Own stem cells for heart repair after a heart attack
The results of a clinical study conducted by scientists of the Heart Institute, part of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (California), showed that the introduction of their own stem cells significantly improves the condition of the heart of patients who have suffered a myocardial infarction.
The study involved 25 patients (average age 53 years) who had suffered a myocardial infarction 2-4 weeks before the first procedure. Each of them underwent a thorough visualization of the heart, which allowed to assess the localization and size of the scars remaining on the myocardium with a high degree of accuracy. After that, the participants were randomly divided into two groups: 17 of them were included in the experimental group and 8 in the control group.
The control group received standard post-infarction therapy, including medication, as well as recommendations for physical activity and dietary adjustments.
Patients of the experimental group underwent a minimally invasive procedure under local anesthesia, consisting in inserting a catheter into the cervical vein and removing a tiny (half the size of a raisin) fragment of heart tissue. Stem cells isolated from this tissue were cultured according to a technique developed in 2009 by Johns Hopkins University specialists.
The resulting specialized cardiac stem cells, in the amount of approximately 12-25 million in the sample, were inserted into the coronary arteries of patients using catheters.
A survey of participants conducted 6 months after the introduction of stem cells showed that the amount of scar tissue in the myocardium decreased by an average of 42%. At the same time, patients also had an increase in the amount of fully functioning myocardial volume and an improvement in its local contractility. No such positive changes were registered in patients of the control group.
The data obtained refute the traditional notion that the scar formed in the myocardium cannot be eliminated, and the lost myocardium cannot be restored.
Despite the fact that the primary purpose of the study was to assess the safety of the approach, the results obtained during its implementation are very promising and deserve additional clinical studies.
Article by Raj R Makkar et al. Intracoronary cardiosphere-derived cells for heart regeneration after myocardial infarction (CADUCEUS): a prospective, randomized phase 1 trial published in The Lancet.
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center:
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