Wejoud - Sequela of Stroke-(Saudi Arabia)

Name: Wejoud Abdulla   

Sex: Female

Country: Saudi Arabia

Age: 12

Diagnoses: Sequela of Cerebral infarction, Epilepsy, Hypothyroidis

Admission Date: 2010-07-11

Wejoud is a very likable and adorable girl. She looks healthy, but the sequela of cerebral infarction has resulted in her right hand losing movement ability. It is because of her cerebral infarction that her parents decided to come to China for treatment, from Saudi Arabia.

Wejoud's parents discovered that the strength of both right limbs was weak when she was 6 months old. Her parents weren't concerned at that time, but as she grew older, it was clear that there was something wrong since the limbs continued to get weaker. Wejoud was unable to walk when she was 1. An MRI was taken at that time which showed low density lesions in the basal ganglia. She was brought to a local hospital for treatment. Before being discharged from the hospital, she received physical and occupational therapy. There was some improvement to the functioning of the right limbs. Wejoud could walk, run and jump when she was 4 years old, but there was no significant functioning of her right hand. Around this time, Wejoud had a grand mal epileptic seizure with no obvious cause. She received carbamazepine for treatment. She had paroxysmal epileptic seizures causing unconsciousness. She didn't have any more seizures after she was 8 years old and was taken off the medication when she was 10 years old. So far, there haven't been any more seizures.

Wejoud's parents spent a lot of time and energy looking for effective treatment options for their daughter's condition and discovered our medical center and learned about the positive outcomes previous patients with sequela of cerebral infarction had. So they made the decision to bring their daughter here to see what could be done for her.

Upon arrival at our hospital, Wejoud was alert and in good spirits. She was able to speak fluently. Her memory, calculation abilities and orientation were normal. Her left shoulder muscles and shrugging ability was strong. The right shoulder muscles were not as strong. The muscle strength of the right upper limb proximal-end was level 4+; the muscle strength of the right upper limb distal-end was level 3. The flexibility of the fingers was poor, the right upper limb was unable to pronate or supinate. The muscle strength of the right lower limb was level 5-, the muscle tone of all four limbs was normal. The right limbs were slightly thinner and shorter than the left limbs. The right biceps reflex and patellar tendon reflex was positive. The bilateral Achilles tendon reflex was normal. The right side of the body had hyperalgesia. The abdominal reflexes were normal. The bilateral Hoffmann's sign was negative, the bilateral Babinski's sign was positive. The bilateral heel-knee-shin test was stable; the finger-to-nose-test with the right arm was poor. Wejoud's right hand was unable to complete the rapid rotation test or the digital opposition test. There were no signs of meningeal irritation.

We initially gave Wejoud a complete examination. We then gave her the stem cells activation treatment to repair the damage to the neurons. She received treatment to improve the blood circulation in order to increase the blood supply to the damaged neurons, to nourish the neurons, improve the body's resistance and regulate the brain's neurotransmitters. She was also given daily physical rehabilitation training.

After a little more than one month of undergoing the treatment, the physical activity ability of Wejoud's limbs had obvious improvement. She has had a healthy weight gain as well. At present, Wejoud's weight: 30kg. Height: 138cm. The muscle strength of the limbs has had good improvement, the muscle strength of the right upper limb proximal-end is now level 5-, and the distal-end is now level 4. The muscle strength of the lower limbs is level 5-. The hyperalgesia of the right side of the body has disappearred. The pallhypesthesia of the right side of the body is no longer severe. The hemiplegic gait when Wejoud walks has decreased. She can use her right hand to use a fork when eating and she can write and grasp objects. Except for the little finger on her right hand, the other fingers can finish the digital opposition test. Her right hand can finish the finger-to-nose test and the rapid rotation test more stable. The muscle strength of the right upper limb's pronation movement and supination movement has shown good improvement. The right foot can bend back to a 60º angle.

Before the start of the treatment, Wejoud's right hand had almost no functioning, so she would compensate by using her left hand and was not used to using her right hand for daily activities. After the treatment was completed, her right hand was much more functional.

Wejoud's family members are satisfied with the results of the treatment. They thanked the entire staff at Wu Stem Cells Medical Center. Before Wejoud was discharged, her family took photos with the staff members. All of us wish Wejoud continued improvement and hope her future will be bright.