Heart failure is a common disease and one of the most common causes of death globally. There are effective medications and treatments such as balloon dilation or pacemaker. But for those who develop a severe form, heart transplantation may be the only alternative, with a long wait for a donated heart.
Now, German researchers have developed a method where they use donated stem cells to grow small pieces of heart muscle cells. These have then been operated into the heart to replace the damaged tissue.
Offers Hope
The method has been tested on rhesus monkeys with good results, and the researchers have also tested it on a patient.
This is a very promising and elegant study. Maybe this could be an alternative for treating advanced heart failure in the future, says Ole Fröbert, professor of cardiology at Örebro University Hospital and Aarhus University, who has read the study but did not participate in it.
In the study on monkeys, the researchers have seen that the heart patch adheres and that the heart has regained its function. They have been granted permission to test on humans, and in the study now published in the journal Nature, a 46-year-old woman with advanced heart failure is described as having received a stem cell patch.
The procedure is described as successful, but the woman chose to undergo a heart transplant after three months when a donated heart became available.
The new heart cells correspond to those from a person who is between 4 and 6 years old, so they are young cells, says heart surgeon Ingo Kutschka, at the University Hospital in Göttingen, Germany, and one of the study authors, who operated the heart patch, at a digital press conference.
Fragile Piece
He describes the procedure as "relatively simple" where you open about 10 centimeters and go into the heart between the ribs.
It's a bit tricky because the cell patch is a bit fragile, so you have to make sure it lies flat, he says.
Stem cells have been touted as solutions to many different diseases, but from having been very hyped, we now know more about the challenges, says Ole Fröbert.
It's very expensive, everything that has to do with stem cells, and it sets extremely high demands on the lab and regulations. But it will be exciting to follow this research group, which seems to have done a very thorough job, he says.
In heart failure, the heart cannot pump as much blood as the body needs. Heart failure is always serious, but there are different treatments that can improve the heart's working capacity.
Medications are standard treatment and very effective for most patients.
Heart valve surgery
Coronary artery bypass surgery or balloon dilation
Pacemaker and/or implanted defibrillator
Heart pump implanted
Heart transplantation
Stem cells to repair damaged heart muscle tissue have been tested before. One method has been to inject stem cells into the heart. But the method has encountered problems, including patients developing heart rhythm disturbances or the stem cells giving rise to tumors.
Source: 1177, Nature
