Adult stem cell heart treatment trialled
Wednesday, 10 April, 2002
Researchers at the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) have injected adult stem cells from the bone marrow of a 74-year-old man into his heart in an attempt to regenerate the blood supply.
According to cardiologist Dr Suku Thambar, from the Institute's Heart and Lung research program, the treatment may offer new hope to "no option" patients who cannot undergo the more traditional angioplasty and other surgical procedures due to the severity of their condition. The treatment could help up to 30 per cent of patients with end-stage coronary artery disease.
"Studies conducted in the United States have been shown to be effective in animals," Thambar said. "But this is the first human trial of its kind in Australia."
In the treatment, stem cells were isolated from the patient's bone marrow, and then injected into the damaged areas of his heart using a state of the art imaging system to pinpoint the precise location for each injection.
Dr Phil Rowling at the Newcastle Mater Misericordiae Hospital carried out the stem cell isolation.
Researchers will now monitor the patient to see how well the stem cells stimulate angiogenesis - new blood cell growth. According to Thambar, the study endpoint will be measured by a simple treadmill stress test at six months. He said that this was a standard test for assessing heart function.
The John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle is one of three international sites taking part in the trial, and the first to carry out the procedure. The other sites are in China and Hong Kong.
The collaborators plan to trial the procedure on 36 patients. It is a blinded study, so although all patients will undergo the procedure, only half will actually be treated with stem cells.
Thambar said that this trial was unusual, as it was not being funded by any outside source.
"It is going to cost about $300,000 to complete the trial," he said, explaining that finding sources of funding was difficult as no product was involved - the procedure uses the patient's own cells.
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