Scientists test the transplant to patch the heart

Scientists who write in nature say that the damaged hearts can be replaced using small “patches” of the heart muscle.

Technology can give new hope to millions of people with advanced heart failure, whose treatment options are currently limited, German researchers say.

Depending on the initial results of a small test in humans and the initial results of promising tests in monkeys, patch appears to safely support heart pumping.

However, the long -term capacity of treatment is still unknown, still running with a clinical test in 15 patients.

The patch is grown from another person’s stem cells – special cells that can be converted into different cell types in any number – and can be made in the cells of the heart muscle.

Lab-Groce cardiac tissue can be grafted to be beaten to helping to re-repair.

It is like “implanting young muscle”, says Ingo Kutchaka, a study writer at the university’s medical center Goetting.

A small incision is made in the chest and a 1.5in patch is stitched on the surface of the heart 3.5in (9 cm).

“This is difficult because tissues are floppy, and you have to take care to stay in shape,” they say.

Patch tests on primates and on a human patient have encouraging consequences.

The 46 -year -old woman suffered a heart attack in 2016, then the heart failure developed which became worse. In 2021, all possible treatments were tried, he chose to patch the heart.

Researchers say that her condition was stable and she did not have any side effects from the implant before the heart transplant three months.

Lead writer Professor Volfram-Habertus Zimraman said that his case has shown that the new muscles could be linked to fail hearts without “safety concerns, such as tumor and arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm)” .

Researchers say that the engineer heart muscle patches have to survive in the patient and are nurtured in several months, so they are not useful for those who require emergency care.

In the female patient, the patch was able to start to “adapt, develop, mature and support the failed heart,” Prof. Zimarman says.

In trials on monkeys, the research team found that the patch was good in contrarying, enhancing and thickening the heart wall, which improved the pumping of the whole heart.

Heart failure is the major cause of death worldwide, but once broken there are some effective ways to fix the organ.

This is a situation that also creates simple daily tasks, such as climbing stairs or wearing clothes, tired.

Heart appliances can be expensive and come up with complications, and a heart transplant – although the best solution – is rarely an option.

Prof. Zimarman says: “99% of patients with heart failure will not get a new heart.”

Researchers have more information about the health of those living with patch over the years to plan to learn from current human testing and long -term follow -up of 15 patients.

Prof. James Leapper, director of research at the British Heart Foundation Charity, said the initial results were “promising”, but a large number of patients required tests “to determine the effectiveness of the heart patches in humans”.

“If they are positive, it can help enter a new era of treatment of heart failure,” he said.

People had mixed consequences of previous efforts to inject heart muscle cells in unsuccessful hearts.

The “off the shelf” heart patches are grown in millions of human stem cells and grown into working heart muscles, as a less dangerous option, although patients are strong to prevent their body from rejecting their body There will be a need to take medicines.

An attempt has been made to use the patient’s own stem cells to develop heart tissue, but this process takes a very long time and previous tests using these grafts were not encouraging.