Copyright
©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Oct 26, 2025; 17(10): 109942
Published online Oct 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i10.109942
Published online Oct 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i10.109942
Long-term follow-up of autologous nasal epithelial stem cell transplantation for congenital olfactory disorders in children
Xia Ni, Department of Otolaryngology, Shanxi Children’s Hospital, Shanxi Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Taiyuan 030000, Shanxi Province, China
Jie Shi, Department of Otolaryngology, Jiading Branch of Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201803, China
Jian Ning, Department of Otolaryngology, Zhejiang Greentown Cardiovascular Hospital, Hangzhou 310012, Zhejiang Province, China
Xiao-Ling Tian, Department of Otolaryngology, Hangzhou Linping District Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, Hangzhou 311100, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Ni X and Shi J jointly proposed the concept for this study and also participated in patient enrollment and data collection; Ni X drafted the initial manuscript, guided the research design, methodology, and manuscript visualization; Ning J and Tian XL contributed to data analysis and interpretation; Ni X, Shi J, Ning J, and Tian XL participated in the study and validated the work through joint review and editing of the manuscript.
Supported by Hangzhou Medical and Health Technology Project, No. B20210443.
Institutional review board statement: This research has been reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanxi Children’s Hospital, Shanxi Maternal and Child Health Hospital, approved No. IRB-2020-008.
Clinical trial registration statement: This study is registered at the Clinical Registry (https://www.researchregistry.com), No. researchregistry11231.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all patients and their guardians, with signed consent forms.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xiao-Ling Tian, MM, Department of Otolaryngology, Hangzhou Linping District Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, No. 15 Baojian Road, Linping District, Hangzhou 311100, Zhejiang Province, China.
Received: June 27, 2025
Revised: July 28, 2025
Accepted: September 22, 2025
Published online: October 26, 2025
Processing time: 119 Days and 17.7 Hours
Revised: July 28, 2025
Accepted: September 22, 2025
Published online: October 26, 2025
Processing time: 119 Days and 17.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This prospective study evaluated the long-term outcomes of autologous nasal epithelial stem cell transplantation in children with congenital olfactory disorders. Fifty pediatric patients were followed for 3 years, demonstrating significant improvements in olfactory function, electro-olfactogram readings, and quality of life scores. The treatment was well-tolerated, with only minor, self-limiting complications reported. Age at intervention and baseline residual function were positively associated with better outcomes. These findings offer promising evidence for a novel regenerative approach to pediatric anosmia, addressing a critical gap in current treatment options and paving the way for broader clinical application.