Heart Stem Cell Research Program

Jim dearing of louisville ky one of the first men in the world to receive heart stem cells might have helped start a medical revolution that could lead to a cure for heart failure.

Heart stem cell research program.

Medstar heart vascular institute has enrolled its first patient to a clinical trial to determine whether cardiac stem cells reduce inflammation enough to improve heart function in patients with heart failure severe enough to require a left ventricular assist device or lvad stemvad is a randomized double blinded placebo controlled study that will assess the effects of. Beatty was an ideal candidate for a clinical trial and soon received an infusion of stem cells derived from his own heart tissue making him the second patient in the world to undergo the procedure. No matter what you may read stem cell therapy for damaged hearts has yet to be proven fully safe and beneficial. In a study published last february in the lancet researchers treated 17 heart attack patients with an infusion of stem cells taken from their own hearts.

Both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells mature cells that are manipulated back to a stem cell state can be harnessed to create new heart cells. It was fortuitous timing. Clinical trials focus on using cardiac stem cells from donors to treat heart attack weakened hearts and advanced heart failure. The difficulty is that the heart cells made with stem cells resemble the heart cells of an infant rather than adult heart cells.

Johns hopkins patient bill beatty was the second person in the world to receive stem cells derived from his own heart tissue. This clinical trial will help determine the safety and feasibility of using cell based regenerative therapy for individuals with declining single right ventricles. Since the cedars sinai team completed the world s first cardiac stem cell infusion in 2009 additional insights have emerged from this and related work including the discovery in animals that iron infused cardiac stem cells can be guided with a magnet to damaged areas of the heart dramatically increasing their retention and healing potential. The goal of the program s bone marrow clinical trial is to determine if stem cells from an individual s own bone marrow can be used to strengthen the right side of their heart.

A new treatment using stem cells which have the potential to grow into a variety of heart cell types could potentially repair and regenerate damaged heart tissue. California s first of its kind state program to fund stem cell research is running out of money and supporters want voters to provide a 5 5 billion infusion. Giving a patient s own cardiac stem cells late after a heart attack.