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CNN Live Today

Christopher Reeve Regains Some Movement in Fingers

Aired September 10, 2002 - 10:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Up first on CNN, incredible news for actor Christopher Reeve. Of course, he played the role of Superman. It might be that he really is. He has been a paraplegic since falling from a horse seven years ago. Now, doctors say he is regaining some movement in his fingers and his toes.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta here to talk more about Reeve's progress -- good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, I tell you, since the beginning, since the fall six and a half, almost seven years ago now, he has certainly had some remarkable things. He had -- I just want to show you, Daryn...

KAGAN: You brought props.

GUPTA: I brought props, right.

KAGAN: I like props.

GUPTA: The top two bones in the cervical spine, this is the back of the head, this is the beginning of the spine, these two bones right up here, the top two bones are the ones that were actually broken, and that is the worst place to break your neck, because up higher you go, the worse it is. He broke it at the very top, so the fact that he even survived that injury alone was a remarkable thing, but what we are hearing now, Daryn, as you pointed out, almost seven years later, he has some movement back in his left fingers, his left toes, he has had some strength in his right hand, and he is also having some sensation in his body that he never had before. Sound like relatively small things, but here is the important thing to keep in mind, is that most recovery after spinal cord injury occurs in the first 18 months.

KAGAN: We are long past that.

GUPTA: Long past that, and there really has been no documented cases in the world, after just talking to his doctor, he told me this -- no documented cases in the world of anyone having this much recovery this far out. So this is certainly a pretty big deal for Christopher Reeve and for all the people that are taking care of him.

KAGAN: We should probably point out, as hopeful as it sounds, he has had access to resources that very few people do.

GUPTA: That's right, so you have to ask -- you are asking the right question. Why has he had such an incredible sort of recovery, compared to other people who have this injury. Lots of other people have quadriplegia out there.

You can see the pictures there, certainly some pretty extensive rehabilitation. That rehabilitation is sort of the name of the game after a spinal cord injury, certainly within the first 18 months, but long after that as well, is it possible that these nerves could sort of learn to reprogram themselves, learn to refire some of the muscles that were no longer firing? Possibly. We don't know, and Christopher Reeve may be the first example of someone who has really done that.

KAGAN: And even though it is hopeful, also the other question is where does it lead to?

GUPTA: That's right. And it is hard -- a lot of times, we measure growth curves. How much improvement has there been? It is hard to say, because his growth curve is so different than anybody else's growth curve that we have seen, it is hard to know what this will lead to. People have talked about the magic question, will he walk again? And I think that no one can say that -- that he will walk again, for sure. We've never seen this kind of recovery at seven years, so it is hard to say, but I think I would throw a little caution out there in terms of people getting overly excited about this possibly meaning that he would walk again, I do not know that that is the case.

KAGAN: Well, you know there is going to be people out there, Sanjay, who are watching who might have a loved one, perhaps they are dealing with this condition, you would be afraid of it giving false hope with this story?

GUPTA: That's right. I think that -- the false hope is a important thing, there are a lot of teenagers out there that ask me this question all the time, after quadriplegia, and your heart really goes out to them, because you want them to get better, but you don't want to give them false hope because that can be very damaging as well.

And Daryn, also, I did speak to John McDonald, Dr. John McDonald, who is Christopher Reeve's doctor, and we are going to speak to him on this show later on this hour.

KAGAN: When are going to do that?

GUPTA: Later on this hour, that is what I am hearing.

KAGAN: Same hour. OK. Then we will let you go and bring you back.

GUPTA: All right. Talk to you soon.

KAGAN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, very good.

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