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Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/653732.cms Indian doctor leads breakthrough in heart surgery IANS[ SATURDAY, MAY 01, 2004 02:34:29 PM ] NEW YORK: A study led by an Indian American doctor says stem cell transplantation can be a viable treatment for congestive heart failure, bringing hope to 23 million people worldwide who suffer from the disease. Led by principal investigator Amit Patel of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the team found that injections of bone marrow cells can pump up a failing heart. Patel and his team presented the study at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery's annual meeting in Toronto this week. In congestive heart failures, the heart is unable to effectively pump blood to all parts of the body and results in fluid accumulation in lungs, legs and abdomen. An estimated 23 million people worldwide are said to suffer from the disease with two million new cases each year. In the US alone, more than five million people are said to suffer from the ailment, with nearly 550,000 new cases reported every year. The clinical study conducted in South America found patients who received stem cells during their bypass surgeries had hearts that pumped blood more effectively even months later than those who underwent surgeries but no cells. The study involved 20 patients of the same age with a similar amount of heart damage. During their cardiac surgeries, only 10 of them received stem cells taken from the bone marrow in their hipbones. None knew about the stem cell implant. The progress was measured after one month, three months and six months. In the first stage, both groups improved, but after three and six months, those who received stem cells improved better. "If you're in heart failure and you receive bypass surgery, you should have some improvement because you're getting more blood flow to your heart. Then it stabilises," Patel said. Bur for patients who received stem cells, the improvement was dramatic, he added. "We don't know if this increase was due to the growth of new heart muscle cells resulting from the stem cell injections or whether the stem cells coaxed existing cells to come out of hibernation," Patel said. "What we do know is that stem cell transplantation led to significant improvement in cardiac function in these patients undergoing off-pump bypass surgery." 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
