For the first time in medical history, a hospital in Madrid has
successfully treated seven patients who recently suffered heart attacks
by using stem cells from donors, according to the hospital’s statement.
“Seven patients have
already been operated on and they have progressed very well
despite having suffered serious damage to their heart
tissue,” the statement, published by Madrid's Gregorio
Maranon Hospital, said.
The hospital plans to treat 55 patients in the framework of the
ongoing clinical trial which envisages a medical breakthrough in
treating heart attacks. According to hospital officials, this is
the first time cells coming from a genetically different person,
or allogeneic cells, have been used to treat a myocardial
infarction.
The injection of the cells is carried out through a coronary
artery seven days after the patient has suffered a heart attack,
so he is clinically stable and the cardio-repairing will be more
effective. The new method limits the damage suffered after a
heart episode, activating the regenerative capacity of the heart
itself to produce new tissue.
A myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, occurs
when the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle
is blocked. If the heart can’t get oxygen for a sufficient period
of time, the section of heart muscle without it begins to die.
During recovery from a heart attack, the dead muscle is replaced
by scar tissue which does not contract, reducing the heart’s
ability to pump blood.
Over the past decades, doctors have been researching methods to
regenerate the scarred parts of the heart. The first in-human use
of bone marrow stem cells (BMCs) to treat a heart attack was back
in 2001. Since then, a large number of clinical studies have
demonstrated their benefit.
There are two main types of stem cell transplants which have been
used by doctors. The first one is an autologous stem cell
transplant, in which the patient receives his or her own stem
cells. The second is allogeneic – when stem cells are donated by
another person.
The autologous method has been previously used by doctors.
However, this method takes four to eight weeks to process a
patient's own stem cells to be used in therapy, said the
hospital’s head of cardiology, Francisco Ferandez-Avila, in a
statement on Friday as quoted by AFP. Meanwhile, donor cells can
be processed and stored, so they are available for immediate use,
he added.
“Besides this very important advantage, this technique allows
for the selection of donors whose cells show the greatest
potential to repair” heart tissue, he said. “Before
being processed, the allogeneic cells are exhaustively studied
and only those that functioned best are selected.”
An estimated 17 million people die of cardiovascular disease,
particularly heart attacks and strokes, every year, according to
World Health Organization estimates. However, according to
researchers, the evolution in clinical practice has substantially
reduced mortality caused by heart attacks.
Source:- RT
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