HospiNews

HN Hospital Treats 28 Patients Using Stem Cells

The project chose patients from the age group of 39 to 68 years

Dr VK Shah

Sir Hurkisondas Nurrotumdas (HN) Hospital, Mumbai recently declared it has treated 28 patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) by using autologous stem cells. The project, started in June 2005, chose patients from the age group of 39-68 years. The project was funded by the Medical Research Society of HN Hospital.

"Most attempts including ours have considered the adult bone marrow as the source of the repair stem cells which is a source of hematopoietic and stromal stem/progenitor cells and have demonstrated that the implantation procedure is safe, feasible and effective in terms of improving the myocardial salvage rate of the infarcted myocardium. The latter can be attributed to the angiogenic events or secretion of angiogenic cytokines by these cells," said Dr VK Shah, Principal Investigator and Interventional Cardiologist, HN Hospital.

The patient's own bone marrow stem cells when injected into the culprit coronary artery after the opening of the occlusion by primary angioplasty reach the infarcted area with the blood supply and contribute to the restoration of stem cell niches, facilitating the ability of the heart to heal itself. "All the cases were successful without any complications. This procedure is done while the patient is fully conscious," Dr Shah claimed.

Further explaining the process, Dr Shah said, "We have completed clinical check-up of all the patients of two, four, six and twelve weeks. Further a six-month follow-up of left ventricular (LV) function assessment by LV angiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in stem cell therapy group have demonstrated an increase in LV ejection fraction (EF) by 7-12 per cent as compared to 1-3.2 per cent controls. There is improvement in LV systolic function, wherein LV end systolic volume (LVESV) has decreased significantly to 16-28 per cent. No patient has demonstrated deterioration of regional wall motion or any other side effects during the follow-up period. The results of our study show favourable trend towards improvements of cardiac functions which is the key determinant for long-term survival."

The Hospital has carried out some routine tests at the end of two years to see the long-term effects of bone marrow infusion on any organ starting from the first patient who has received bone marrow therapy which included detailed clinical evaluation, ECG, chest X-ray, 2D echocardiography, sonography of abdomen and blood tests which include complete haemogram, renal function tests, liver function test and lipid profile, which were normal in all the patients. "In addition to the regular clinical follow-up, these tests helped us in assessing the safety and feasibility of transfusing autologous bone marrow stem cells (ABMSC) into the culprit coronary artery after an acute anterior wall MI," said Dr Shah.

According to patient Rajaram Chandra Jagdale (54), who underwent the therapy last April after suffering from an acute MI, "I am doing fine after the therapy."

Rita Dutta