Source: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Date: March 17, 2011
Summary:
Stem cell researchers have shown for the first time that stem cells injected into enlarged hearts reduced heart size, reduced scar tissue and improved function to injured heart areas. The findings, from a small trial conducted at the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, are published in the March 17 issue of Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart Association.
In this study, physicians used a corkscrew-shaped catheter to inject stem cells retrieved from the patient’s own bone marrow. The patients were eight men, average age of 57, who had chronically enlarged, low-functioning hearts. Specifically, the Miller School researchers found that the heart size decreased an average of 15 to 20 percent, or about three times what is possible with current medical therapies. Scar tissue went down by an average of 18.3 percent and there was dramatic improvement in the function of specific heart areas that were damaged.
The research team used two different types of bone marrow stem cells in the study — mononuclear or mesenchymal stem cells. The study did not examine whether one type of cell works better than the other. All patients in the study benefited from the therapy and tolerated the injections with no serious adverse events.
HealthDay News, MedPage Today, WebMD and The Miami Herald published news stories on this study today.
