First study transplanting angina patients' purified stem cells shows safety and symptom relief

The first U.S. study to transplant a potent form of purified adult stem cells into the heart muscle of patients with severe angina provided evidence that the procedure is safe and produced a reduction in angina pain as well as improved functioning in patients' daily lives, reports the lead researcher at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine.

Within three to six weeks after the severe angina patients were injected with their own stem cells, many who used to experience pain just from walking to the refrigerator, now only had pain when they climbed two flights of stairs.

This is the first human trial in which patients' own purified stem cells, called CD-34 cells, were injected into their hearts in an effort to spur regrowth of small blood vessels that constitute the microcirculation of the heart muscle. Researchers believe the loss of these blood vessels contributes to the pain of chronic, severe angina.

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Tags: angina, CHD, heart failure, Feinberg school of medicine, CD-34 Cells

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Study Will Test Stem Cells Against Heart Attack

In a first-of-a-kind study, patients who've recently had a major heart attack and are undergoing coronary bypass surgery will be injected with selected stem cells harvested from their own bone marrow.

The study of 60 patients by researchers at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom will examine whether those stem cells can repair heart muscle cells damaged by heart attack. Specifically, the researchers want to determine if the stem cells can prevent late scar formation and the impaired heart contraction that can result from that scarring.

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Tags: Stem Cells, CHD, heart attack, bone marrow, University of Bristol, heart study

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'Off-The-Shelf' Vascular Grafts Developed

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine investigators have engineered artificial blood vessels from muscle-derived stem cells (MDSCs) and a biodegradable polymer that exhibit extensive remodeling and remain free of blockages when grafted into rats. The results of their study, which was presented at the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS) North America Chapter meeting at the Westin Harbor Castle conference center in Toronto, has potentially significant implications for the treatment of heart and kidney diseases, where there is a critical need for new sources of blood vessels for vascular grafts.

The saphenous vein taken from a patient's leg continues to be the most commonly used graft for coronary artery bypass grafting even though a significant percentage of vein grafts eventually fail. Arterial grafts are the preferred conduits because they are less prone to becoming obstructed. However, they are in very limited supply, as many patients require multiple grafts. Thus, there is an ongoing search for the ideal small-caliber arterial substitute for revascularization procedures.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=74498

Tags: stem Cells, Artifical Blood Vessels, MDSC, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, TERMIS, Arterial grafts, saphenous vein

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The Berlin Heart Pump

The FDA made an exception and permitted the use of the Berlin Heart pump, which is approved for use throughout Europe but not the United States, to keep 5-year-old Joseph Greenwood alive as he awaited a heart transplant.

This is a heart wrenching story that introduced me to the Berlin Heart pump.  It seems to be able to keep patients alive for up to several months while waiting for a transplant.  Sounds like a wonderful maching.

Tags: Berlin heart Pump, Heart Failure, CPR

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Berlin Pump sustains patient 234 days

5-year-old Jason Zhao from Vallejo, Calif., received the best Valentine's gift he could ask for—a healthy new heart. But Jason, whose own heart failed last June, wouldn't have lived long enough to accept the transplant without the assistance of a mechanical external pump known as the Berlin Heart. The device kept Jason alive for 234 days at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, longer than any other child in North America. Only three other children in the world have survived longer than that on the pump.

Tags: Berlin Pump

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Viral Diseas Destroys Heart of Mexican Boy-citizens of Texas React.

Residents of the Texas city raised about $500,000 for the boy, who suffers a viral infection that is eating away at his heart tissue. "In many children, it just gives you a common cold, but in certain settings, it will cause an inflammation of the heart ," said Dr. Elizabeth Frazier, head of the cardiac transplantation program at Arkansas Children's Hospital. "It permanently damages the heart muscle; it actually kills the heart muscle."

This international effort to provide care for one boy shows an aspect of the transformation of medicine over the last several decades. It also speaks about the role of human charity in medical care.

Tags: Viral heart disease, heart transplant

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PharmaLive: Study Presented at the ACC Shows Inflammatory Enzyme Lp-PLA2 Predicts Heart Disease Risk in Metabolic Syndrome Patients

PharmaLive: Study Presented at the ACC Shows Inflammatory Enzyme Lp-PLA2 Predicts Heart Disease Risk in Metabolic Syndrome Patients: "Study Presented at the ACC Shows Inflammatory Enzyme Lp-PLA2 Predicts Heart Disease Risk in Metabolic Syndrome Patients


NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 26, 2007 - Study results show that elevated lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), a cardiovascular-specific inflammatory enzyme associated with unstable plaque that can lead to heart attack and stroke, is especially predictive of heart disease risk in patients with the metabolic syndrome--a serious medical condition that affects nearly 50 million Americans. The results, which were presented yesterday at the American College of Cardiology's annual scientific session, confirm previous findings demonstrating the association between elevated Lp-PLA2 and coronary heart disease. "