Stem cell patch developed to repair damaged hearts

A team of researchers used a newly identified human cardiac master stem cell to create a strip of heart muscle in the lab that essentially works "like slapping a Band-Aid on the heart."

The work opens up a pair of intriguing possibilities, laying the groundwork for eventually applying the technology to repair the damage inflicted by a heart attack by either placing strips of new muscle on the exterior of heart ventricles or by injecting the material into hearts to spur the generation of healthy tissue. Their work was made possible by the recent discovery of a stem cell that the body relies on to create the left side of the heart, where most of the damage from heart attacks occurs.

"For doing this in animals, I anticipate being able to do some version of this in the coming year," said Dr. Kenneth Chien, a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. "Talking clinically, I believe that in five years or so the groundwork would be laid for very early clinical studies to deliver these cells to humans."

- read the story from HealthDay News

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