Key points from article :
A new stem cell therapy slashes the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people with heart failure, cutting the rate by more than half.
More than 6 million Americans live with chronic heart failure.
If a patient’s rating is less than 40% of “left ventricular ejection fraction” (LVEF), they’re diagnosed with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).
The company Mesoblast is developing a heart failure treatment that contains a type of stem cell known to have anti-inflammatory effects, called mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs).
During this trial, 537 patients with HFrEF received an injection of about 150 million MPCs straight into the muscular tissue of their hearts.
Treated participants’ risk of heart attack or stroke dropped by 58%.
“we’ve discovered that stem cells can successfully treat the inflammation that causes heart failure,” co-principal investigator Emerson Perin.
The study was carried out at Texas Heart Institute and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
