First transplant Directly from Heart Tissue
By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: July 01, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO, July 1 -- Researchers have announced the first-in-man transplant of autologous stem cells derived from heart tissue as part of a phase I trial.
The patient, a 39-year-old man, received the transplant June 26 at Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles in procedure performed by pioneering stem cell researcher Eduardo Marbán, MD, PhD.
Until now, myocardial stem cell procedures have used cultured cells taken from the bone marrow or, in some cases, from skeletal muscle. The cells have been injected into the heart in hopes that they would develop into viable myocardial tissue.
The novel technique developed by Dr. Marbán harvests a piece of myocardial tissue half the size of a raisin through a catheter placed in the jugular vein under local anesthesia. Extensive preprocedural imaging is used to target the location and severity of scarring in the heart.
The heart biopsy sample is cultured over a period of about four weeks until approximately 10 to 25 million cells are available for reimplantation into the coronary arteries.
With all such autologous stem cell transplantation procedures, a disadvantage is that the patient has to maintain in relatively good health while the cells are harvested and processed, Dr. Jessup noted.
Dr. Marbán's group, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, expects to enroll 24 patients who have had heart attacks within the prior four weeks into the phase I trial, including eight control patients.
The initial patient was reported to have had his heart attack on May 10, caused by a 99% blockage in the left anterior descending artery that left scarring over 21% of the heart muscle. His biopsy was performed May 24.
Since patients will be followed for six months after transplantation, the first results of the trial are not expected until at.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Marbán reported financial interest in the company that has licensed the patent for the cardiac-derived stem cell growing process.
Dr. Jessup reported no conflicts of interest.
Primary source: www.medpagetoday.com
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