SURGEONS in Southampton have become the first in England to use a pioneering stem cell brain injection that could help to recover movement in patients who have been left disabled as a result of suffering a stroke.

Diederik Bulters, a consultant neuro-surgeon at Southampton General Hospital, and his team carried out the procedure on a 66-year-old woman who lost functional movement in her arm after suffering a stroke a year ago.

The treatment, which will be trialled on 41 patients as part of a UK-wide study known as PISCES II, works by delivering stem cells into the part of the brain that is believed to help generate new nerve cells.

The technique was first used in 2010 at Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital and results of that early-stage study, which involved 11 patients in their 60s, 70s and 80s, found it was safe and preliminary findings showed promising results.

Every year, around 110,000 people in England suffer a stroke and it is the third largest cause of death behind heart disease and cancer.