A hospital in Japan has carried out the world’s first stem-cell heart surgery operation using commercially available heart muscle sheets created from stem cells.
According to AFP, the regenerative tissue was transplanted into the heart of a woman in her 50s during an hour-long stem-cell heart surgery on Tuesday.
Treatment gets first clinical use
The procedure involved muscle cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, commonly known as iPS cells, to perform the pioneering stem-cell heart surgery.
It marked the treatment’s first clinical use since Japanese authorities granted it conditional approval in March. Notably, this marks a major step forward for the surgery.
“Our hope is that this will improve the patient’s quality of life,” surgeon Yoshiki Sawa said.
Sawa heads Osaka Keisatsu Hospital and helped develop the technology alongside Nobel Prize-winning scientist Shinya Yamanaka.
Previous trial involved eight patients
Researchers previously tested the therapy on eight patients suffering from ischemic heart disease.
All eight reportedly experienced reduced symptoms, while four recorded improvements in heart function.
The treatment primarily targets patients who have exhausted other options.
Sawa’s team plans to conduct similar procedures on 75 patients by 2033 before seeking full authorisation based on long-term evidence about its safety and effectiveness.
