‘Injecting stem cells, effective treatment for heart failure patients’

Addressing a press meet to discuss the outcomes of the procedure that have been carried out since 2007, Dr KM Cherian, Founder, Chairman & CEO, Frontier Lifeline Hospital and Frontier Mediville, spoke about the outcome of the procedure in 23 people, who were followed up frequently. 

He said, “Their ejection fraction went up by 5 per cent in 30 per cent of the cases, which is a considerable improvement,” he added. Similarly, there was a one class symptoms improvement, according to NYHA standards. 

He also discussed the case of a four month old who was treated through the procedure; today the girl, who is nine years is leading a normal life. Dr Cherian pointed out that the case results concurred with a study published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Translational Research. The study followed 11 patients who during bypass surgery had stem cells injected into their hearts near the site of tissue scars caused by heart attacks. At a recent meet, EuroPCR held in Paris, the case studies were accepted, and a number of publications on stem cell treatment have also found the procedure to be effective, reducing tissue scars.

According to British Heart Foundation, while there are treatments to help people with heart failure, there is no known cure, and in some cases a heart transplant may be the only option. Twenty-four months after participants were injected with stem cells there was a 30% improvement in heart function, 40% reduction in scar size, and 70% improvement in quality of life, as judged by the Minnesota living with heart failure (MLHF) score.