SATURDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- An innovative approach using patients' own bone marrow cells to treat chronic heart failure came up short in terms of effectiveness, researchers report. Use of stem cell therapy to repair the slow, steady damage done to heart muscle and improve heart function is safe, but has not been shown to improve most measures of heart function, the study authors said. "For the measures we paid most attention to, we saw no effect, there is no question about that," said researcher Dr. Lemuel Moye, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Texas School of Public Health in Houston. "Ultimately, this is going to pay off handsomely for individuals and for public health in general, but it's going to take years of work," Moye said. "We are the vanguard looking for new promising lines of research." While the hoped-for results didn't materialize, there appeared to be a small improvement in some patients, he said. "When we looked at another commonly used measure of heart function called ejection fraction, or the strength of the heart's pumping, that's where all the action was," Moye noted. It's hard to know which measures of heart function to look at, … Continue reading →

Public release date: 24-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Kristin Wincek kwincek@mhif.org 612-863-0249 Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation CHICAGO Cell therapy may present an option for patients with ischemic heart disease to use their own bone marrow cells to repair the damaged areas of their hearts, and may pave the way for future treatment options, according to the FOCUS trial, which will be presented as a late-breaking clinical trial March 24 at the 61st annual American College of Cardiology (ACC) scientific session. This is the largest study to date to look at stem cell therapy, using a patient's own stem cells, to repair damaged areas of the heart in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease and left ventricular dysfunction. Researchers found that left ventricular ejection fraction (the percentage of blood leaving the heart's main pumping chamber) increased by a small but significant amount (2.7 percent) in patients who received stem cell therapy. The study also revealed that the improvement in ejection fraction correlated with the number of progenitor cells (CD34+ and CD133+) in the bone marrow; and this information will help in evaluating and designing future therapies and trials. "FOCUS is an incredibly important trial, as it has informed … Continue reading →

A local toddler with a very rare disease has begun a long recovery in Penn State Hershey Childrens Hospital after chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. Chevy Hockenberry, the 23-month-old son of Lance Hockenberry and Melissa Johnson of Mercersburg, suffers from Hurlers syndrome, a rare inherited genetic disorder that if left untreated, causes death within five years. People with Hurlers syndrome do not produce lysosomal alpha-L-iduronidase, an enzyme that helps break down long chains of sugar molecules. The long sugar chains build up in the body, damage internal organs and eventually lead to death. The transplant Chevy was diagnosed with Hurlers in January, but his symptoms started showing up long before that. He was always sick, Johnson said by phone from Hershey. Chevy was always in and out of the hospital and had developed pneumonia and mild scoliosis. Once he was diagnosed, the only treatment option for was a stem cell transplant. Its not curable, Johnson said. But the stem cell transplant stops the progression. The stem cells came from donated umbilical cords and Chevys parents because they are both carriers of Hurlers. Chevy had multiple weeks of enzymes infusion followed by nine days of chemotherapy before the stem cell … Continue reading →

CHICAGO - Patients with advanced heart disease who received an experimental stem cell therapy showed slightly improved heart function, researchers said at a major U.S. cardiology conference on Saturday. The clinical trial involved 92 patients, with an average age of 63, who were picked at random to get either a placebo or a series of injections of their own stem cells, taken from their bone marrow, into damaged areas of their hearts. The patients all had chronic heart disease, along with either heart failure or angina, and their left ventricles were pumping at less than 45 per cent of capacity. All the participants in the study were ineligible for revascularization surgery, such as coronary bypass to restore blood flow, because their heart disease was so advanced. Those who received the stem cell therapy saw a small but significant boost in the heart's ability to pump blood, measuring the increase from the heart's main pumping chamber at 2.7 per cent more than placebo patients. Study authors described the trial as the largest to date to examine stem cell therapy as a route to repairing the heart in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease and left ventricular dysfunction. "This is the kind … Continue reading →