Improvement

The preliminary trial was on patients with heart failure who were having heart bypass surgery. During the operation, a piece of heart tissue, from the right atrial appendage, was taken.

While the patient was being sewn up, researchers isolated cardiac stem cells from the sample and cultured them until they had about two million stem cells for each patient. The cells were injected about 100 days later.

Doctors measured how efficiently the heart was pumping using the left ventricle ejection fraction - what percentage of blood was leaving one of the heart's main chamber with every beat.
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We believe these finding are very significant”

End Quote Dr Roberto Bolli University of Louisville

In the 14 patients given the treatment, the percentage increased from 30.3% at the beginning of the trial, to 38.5% after four months.

There was no change in the ejection fraction in the seven patients who were not injected with stem cells.

Dr Roberto Bolli, one of the researchers from the University of Louisville, told the BBC: "We believe these finding are very significant.

"Our results indicate that cardiac stem cells can markedly improve the contractile function of the heart."

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