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CINCINNATI, June 6 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 5, cardiothoracic surgeons with Ohio Heart Health Center were the first in the nation to perform stem cell transplantation on a heart failure patient during coronary artery bypass surgery at The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, OH.  The procedure is part of a national clinical trial that tests the safety and efficacy of injecting a patient's own muscular stem cells into damaged heart muscle in an attempt to re-grow new functional heart muscle.  In Cincinnati, the trial is being coordinated by The Lindner Clinical Trial Center, one of only 10 sites participating in the study nationwide.  Members of the media are invited to attend a press briefing with physicians on Friday, June 6, at noon at The Christ Hospital, 2139 Auburn Ave.  Please meet in the main hospital lobby at 11:45 a.m.

Four weeks ago, the patient, a 61 year-old man from Middletown, OH, underwent a skeletal thigh muscle biopsy.  The biopsy was sent to Diacrin, a biotech company in Charlestown, MA, which develops cell transplantation therapies. Diacrin isolated the stem cells taken from the patient's thigh muscle and grew millions of cells that are used to grow new muscle.  Up to 300 million skeletal muscle stem cells were then shipped back to The Christ Hospital.  Cardiothoracic surgeons Donald Mitts, M.D., and Tom Ivey, M.D., injected the cells into an area of damaged heart muscle during bypass surgery in an attempt to make the area of dead heart muscle beat effectively again. The patient received 32 injections of his own stem cells.

The newly-injected cells are expected to grow new muscle in approximately 12 weeks.  Physicians will monitor the growth of the heart muscle using ultrasound, PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scans. Patients enrolled in the trial will be monitored for up to one year.  Preliminary studies using adult stem cells derived from either skeletal muscle or bone marrow show successful results after being injected into dead heart muscle or scar.

"The implications of this process and study are immense," said Dean J. Kereiakes, M.D., medical director of the Lindner Center and a lead investigator in the study.  "By transplanting the patient's own skeletal muscle cells into an area of badly damaged heart, we hope to regenerate functioning muscle and significantly improve heart performance. Unlike heart transplantation, there is no risk of rejection or any need for immunosuppression.  The subsequent improvement in heart muscle function hopefully will result in less shortness of breath and increased exercise capacity for the patient. Stem cell therapy could eventually be offered early to heart attack victims to minimize scar tissue and to prevent heart enlargement and congestive heart failure."

Heart failure results when part of the heart muscle dies, making it a less effective pump.  At this time, the only cure for heart failure is a heart transplant.  Almost five million Americans suffer from heart failure, and 400,000 to 700,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.

The Carl and Edyth Lindner Center at The Christ Hospital is a national leader in cardiovascular research and continually brings to the forefront new technology for heart patients.  The Lindner Center was created to make available new technology and therapy for cardiovascular disease and to enhance the quality of cardiovascular care in the region.  The Lindner Center has participated in more than 500 clinical research protocols and is currently involved in more than 80 research projects.

Drs. Kereiakes, Mitts and Ivey are members of Ohio Heart Health Center, the largest cardiovascular physician group in Ohio, which comprises 38 cardiologists and cardiovascular surgeons in 21 office and clinic locations throughout Greater Cincinnati.

The Christ Hospital, "Greater Cincinnati's Heart Hospital," performs more heart surgery and angioplasties than any other hospital in the area.  It is part of the Health Alliance, an integrated health care delivery system that also includes The University Hospital, The St. Luke Hospitals, The Jewish Hospital, The Fort Hamilton Hospital and the physicians of Alliance Primary Care. To view other Health Alliance news releases, go to www.health-alliance.com/pressroom.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:  Video, hard copy requests, contact information and more available at www.prnewswire.com/broadcast/10948/10948-consumer.html

SOURCE  Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati  

CO:  Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati

ST:  Ohio

SU:  BFA

www.prnewswire.com
 
06/06/2003 08:01 EDT
   
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