1. According to Dr. Xiao, he has "dedicated my live to SCI research since 1976" [1]. His first animal studies on rats [2] and cats [3], as well as his first clinical trial of 15 patients [4] are all for SCI.
2. Dr. Xiao's papers on SCI were published "in highly regarded western journals" in 1999 and 2003, co-authored with Dr. de Groat, "the most respected name in bladder physiology" [5]. We note that, in his recent reviews [6, 7] on bladder function recovery after SCI, Dr. de Groat gave no word to Dr. Xiao's work.
3. From 1999 to 2007, the NIH awarded Dr. Xiao more than 2.4 million dollars for the clinical trial in SCI at New York University (NYU) [8]. It was said that 40 SCI patients had been involved with an 80% response rate [9], but so far there has been no official result released, except for a conference abstract [10] that reported two cases with much worse urodynamic results than Dr. Xiao's first 15 SCI patients in China [4]. We note that NYU discontinued its clinical study after spending multi-million dollars for only two cases.
4. In December 2006, William Beaumont Hospitals started the clinical trial [11] in both SCI and spina bifida (SB). In Beaumont's one-year clinical outcomes [12], no SCI case was reported. We know from media [13] that "the three with spinal cord injuries were not helped by the procedure". More over, in May 2009, the mother of one of the Beaumont's first SCI patients asked for help to buy catheters for her son [14].
5. In December 2009, Beaumont obtained a grant from the NIH for the clinical trial in SB [15]. The trial no longer includes SCI.
6. All of the 6 SCI cases in Tubingen, Germany have failed, "only 2 showed some improvement" [16].
7. Dr. Xiao blamed the failure of SCI cases to "incorrect patient selection" and "inappropriate postoperative care" [16]. In at least two of his posts on Chinese forums [17, 18], he further blamed the misuse of Ditropan. But according to the mother of the patient [19], the patients at Beaumont had already been required to quit Ditropan.
References
[1] http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showpost.php?p=1183019&postcount=36
[2] Xiao CG, Godec CJ. A possible new reflex pathway for micturition after SCI. Paraplegia. 32(5):300-307, 1994
[3] Xiao CG, de Groat WC, Godec CJ, Dai C and Xiao Q. "Skin-CNS-bladder" reflex pathway for micturition after spinal cord injury and its underlying mechanisms. J Urol 162: 936-42.
[4] Xiao CG, Du MX, Dai C, Li B, Nitti VW and de Groat WC (2003). An artificial somatic-central nervous system-autonomic reflex pathway for controllable micturition after spinal cord injury: preliminary results in 15 patients. J Urol 170: 1237-41.
[5] http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showpost.php?p=1118680&postcount=33
[6] de Groat WC, Yoshimura N. Mechanisms underlying the recovery of lower urinary tract function following spinal cord injury. Progress in Brain Research. 2006;152:59-84.
[7] Fowler CJ, Griffiths D, de Groat WC. The neural control of micturition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2008 Jun;9(6):453-66.
[8] http://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=6698512
[9] Blount JP and Tuite G. Xiao Procedure. Pediatric ShortCuts Newsletter. Spring 2009
http://www.neurosurgery.org/xiaoS09.asp
Note: Dr. Tuite is one of the neurosurgeons who lead the clinical trial at ACH, see:
http://www.wctv.tv/medicalminute/interviewheadlines/47870982.html
[10] http://www.urotoday.com/264/conference_reports/selected_abstracts/female_urology__part_10.html
[11] http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00378664
[12] http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022534709608843
[13] http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article984049.ece
[14] http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showthread.php?t=118791
[15] http://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=7696321
[16] http://webcasts.prous.com/netadmin/webcast_viewer/Preview.aspx?type=0&lid=10196&pv=2
[17] http://www.chinagonet.com/main/view_post.php?pid=2251853
[18] http://www.starlakeporch.net/bbs/read.php?1,52103,52175#msg-52175
[19] http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/showpost.php?p=586207&postcount=34