Manuela Alves

Age 1.5, 

Brazil


Diagnosis


Optic Nerve Hypoplasia



Condition Prior to Treatment



Manuela was born with Optic nerve hypoplasia, a congenital condition that is caused by the under development of the optic nerve and and in Manuela's case an under developed pituitary gland. As a result, Manuela has been blind since birth. Furthermore because of her the problems with her pituitary gland, she has hormonal imbalances and has to be kept on medication.



Her parents found no treatment options for her sight in Brazil. However,while researching, they found out about stem cell treatment in China, and made the decision to come. The trip was made easier by taking the journey together with another family from Brazil, whose child, Giulia Rodrigues da Silva, has Septo-optic dysplasia, a related condition to ONH.



Treatment in China

Manuela received 6 umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants. She also received physical therapy, occupational therapy, electric wave therapy and acupuncture.


Condition after Treatment

While in China, Manuela began to see positive results from her treatment. Luciana saw some of the first changes in Manuela's condition noting,

"There's one thing that really improved in Manuela. We were very worried about her pituitary gland. When we came here, the doctors did a scan and they found out problems in her hormones levels, which we had already known about in Brazil... Before the third stem cell injection they did another scan, and all her hormones levels had become normal, I was very surprised."



By cautiously observing her child, Luciana also became convinced that Manuela's sight has improved,

"Since we live with this everyday, we get a little bit wary. However I have noticed some changes in Giulia, things that she didn't do before. For example when I took her picture before she never blinked her eyes like she does here."