New Cell Transplant Method Shows Promise in Treating Heart Attack Damage
An experimental technique that uses cells transplanted from a person's own thigh muscles may help the body's most important muscle, the heart, repair itself after damage. A new report suggests that the transplanted stem cells (immature cells that can develop into other cells) can help the heart grow stronger following a heart attack.
In a letter published in the Feb. 8 issue of The Lancet, French researchers report the first evidence that the transplants may provide long-term benefits to the heart without some of risks associated with other methods.
Researcher Albert A. Hagège, MD, of the Hopital Europeen Georges Pompidou in Paris, and colleagues say the technique eliminates the risk that the body might reject the transplanted cells, as is the case with donated cells and tissues from another person. It also skirts ethical issues that have arisen about the use of stem cells from human embryos. Their report describes the case of a 72-year-old man who had the procedure after a heart attack in June 2000 as part of a clinical trial. Initial results showed the graft improved blood flow and overall heart function.
But tests conducted after the man died 18 months later show that the stem cells that had been taken from the muscle of his thigh had survived and evolved into a well-developed, functioning part of the heart's muscle structure.
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