Stem Cell Therapies
Muscle Regeneration and Stem Cell Therapies
Advances in cardiothoracic medicine are pioneered by medical professionals who are willing to question the limits of modern medicine. At Montefiore-Einstein Heart Center, surgeons are not only asking whether it's possible to regenerate heart muscle, they're among the only heart centers in the world launching clinical research to find out.
Asking the Right Questions
Is it possible to regenerate the heart muscle once it has been severely damaged? By devoting study to this question, Montefiore-Einstein hopes to turn today's hypothetical therapies into the gold standard of tomorrow's care.
Can skeletal muscle from the quadriceps stimulate the regeneration of heart muscle tissue?
Doctor Robert Michler, the Chairman of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, is a lead author on a paper published in Circulation: The Journal of the American Heart Association, that details the results of a study on the use of skeletal muscle cells in patients who received bypass surgery.
The study proved that skeletal muscle is safe for implantation into the heart muscle. A variety of cardiac imaging techniques showed that the cells survived and implanted into the heart tissue. Results of this study resulted in recommendations for isolated FDA clinical trials of the use of skeletal muscle in the heart.
Can stem cells harvested from the patient's own heart muscle be used to stimulate heart muscle regeneration?
Even as they continue to examine the possibility of using cells from the skeletal muscle, surgeons at Montefiore-Einstein are looking forward. The muscles we use to walk and run are designed to contract when in use and remain at rest for much of the day. This is very different from heart muscle designed to contract 80 times a minute for a lifetime.
To better understand the difference between these two types of cells, Montefiore-Einstein has entered an exclusive research partnership with one of the world's foremost basic scientists on cardiac stem sells. Their collaborative research will identify cardiac stem cells, study their properties, and determine whether it's possible to coax them to multiply rapidly.
Montefiore-Einstein is among the only institutions in the world pushing the limits of cardiothoracic medicine through this kind of innovative study.
Can stem cells harvested from the patient's own bone marrow be injected into the heart to stimulate heart muscle regeneration?
Montefiore-Einstein is among a handful of centers worldwide to host a clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). During the trial, a surgeon will inject a patient's bone marrow stem cells into the heart at the time a patient receives a VAD, or heart pump, to determine if the heart can use bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged tissue.
