Stem Cell Treatment May Relieve Angina
Drugs, angioplasty, and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery are the main treatments for angina -- chest pain caused by blocked coronary arteries.
The new treatment came from the discovery about a decade ago that CD34+ stem cells stimulate the formation of new blood vessels. Coronary artery disease involves not only the blockage of major arteries, but the death of small vessels, or capillaries, of the heart muscle. This treatment targets these small vessels that have been damaged. The stem cells have shown the ability to repair and replace them in animal models.
Patients were given a drug for several days to increase the number of CD34+ stem cells in the blood. Blood was collected and processed to collect the stem cells, and then, using a catheter threaded into the heart, the researchers injected the CD34+ cells into areas of the muscle that had been identified as oxygen-deprived areas. The patients received 10 such injections during a single catheterization procedure.
The new treatment came from the discovery about a decade ago that CD34+ stem cells stimulate the formation of new blood vessels. Coronary artery disease involves not only the blockage of major arteries, but the death of small vessels, or capillaries, of the heart muscle. This treatment targets these small vessels that have been damaged. The stem cells have shown the ability to repair and replace them in animal models.
Patients were given a drug for several days to increase the number of CD34+ stem cells in the blood. Blood was collected and processed to collect the stem cells, and then, using a catheter threaded into the heart, the researchers injected the CD34+ cells into areas of the muscle that had been identified as oxygen-deprived areas. The patients received 10 such injections during a single catheterization procedure.
Labels: angina attack, Stem Cell Treatment
posted by G S Iyer at 4:34 AM
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