R. Bolli - Interim Results of the SCIPIO Trial Up to 2 Years After Therapy
R. Bolli - Effect of Cardiac Stem Cells in Patients with Ischemic Cardiomyopathy: Interim Results of the SCIPIO Trial Up to 2 Years After Therapy SCIPIO: (Cardiac) Stem Cell Infusion in Patients with Ischemic cardiomyopathy Annual Session of the American Heart Association November 5, 2012, Los AngelesFrom:CardioletterViews:3 0ratingsTime:09:07More inScience Technology

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R. Bolli - Interim Results of the SCIPIO Trial Up to 2 Years After Therapy - Video

By E.J. Mundell HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Updated two-year results from a small trial using cardiac stem cells to repair damaged hearts suggest the treatment's healing effect persists.

Patients with heart failure caused by prior heart attacks who got the treatment continue to see reductions in cardiac scar tissue, improvements in the heart's pumping ability and even a boost in their quality of life, researchers said.

These improvements seem to be continuing as time goes on, suggesting that stem cell therapy's healing power hasn't diminished.

"Now we need to perform larger and randomized, blinded studies ... to confirm this data," said study lead author Dr. Roberto Bolli, director of the Institute of Molecular Cardiology at the University of Louisville.

His team presented its results Tuesday at the American Heart Association's annual meeting, in Los Angeles.

According to the AHA, more than 6 million Americans suffer from heart failure, a gradual weakening of the heart often caused by damage from a prior heart attack. Despite its prevalence and lethality, virtually no advance has been made over the past few decades in doctors' ability to treat or reverse heart failure.

That's why the advent of stem cell therapy has encouraged researchers. Stem cells have the ability to turn into myriad living cells, and the hope is that once infused into the heart they can help repair it.

This trial is the first human trial to test this theory using the patient's own cardiac stem cells. The cells used in the trial were harvested from 33 heart failure patients who were undergoing bypass surgery. The cells were then coaxed to multiply into the millions in the lab and then transplanted back into 20 of the patients. The remaining 13 patients did not receive a stem cell infusion and are the "control" group for comparison purposes.

Results gathered one year after treatment showed improvements for the treated patients, but experts questioned whether those gains would fade over time.

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Two Years On, Stem Cells Still Healing Damaged Hearts

Study Highlights:

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 6, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cardiac stem cells may one day be an effective treatment for heart failure caused by muscle scarring after a heart attack, according to late-breaking clinical trial results presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

In the Effect of Cardiac Stem Cells In Patients with Ischemic CardiOmyopathy (SCIPIO) trial, heart function and quality of life improved in 20 people treated with their own cardiac stem cells (CSCs).

"This is exciting," said Roberto Bolli, M.D., lead author of the trial, chief of Cardiovascular Medicine and director of the Institute of Molecular Cardiology at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. "The effect of these cells has continued for up to two years, and has gotten stronger. There was also a major reduction in heart scarring."

In 33 patients with heart failure who had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery, researchers removed a tiny piece of heart tissue and isolated heart stem cells called c-kit CSCs. Researchers then grew additional cells to infuse into 20 volunteers assigned to treatment.

Among outcomes found two years after treatment:

"We have not seen any deaths among the patients, or any adverse effects that can be ascribed to the stem cells," Bolli said.

About 6.6 million Americans suffer from heart failure, according to the American Heart Association. Life expectancy is about five years after diagnosis. Ischemic heart attacks cause most of the 57,000 U.S. deaths a year due to heart failure.

Larger, multi-center studies are needed to confirm the findings, Bolli said.

The Jewish Hospital, University of Louisville, and the National Institutes of Health funded the study. Co-authors' names are on the abstract.

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Cardiac Stem Cells May Help Treat Heart Failure

Public release date: 7-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Deborah Mann Lake deborah.m.lake@uth.tmc.edu 713-500-3030 University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

HOUSTON (Nov. 7, 2012) Administering stem cells derived from patients' own bone marrow either three or seven days after a heart attack is safe but does not improve heart function six months later, according to a clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The results of the trial, called Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation (TIME), mirror a previous related study, LateTIME, which found that such cells (called autologous stem cells) given two to three weeks after a heart attack did not improve heart function. Both TIME and LateTIME were conducted by the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The findings were presented Nov. 6, 2012, at the American Heart Association 2012 Scientific Sessions in Los Angeles and appeared concurrently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"These cells, while safe, were not better than placebo solution in providing benefit," said Lemuel Moy, III, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator of the CCTRN and professor of biostatistics at The University of Texas School of Public Health, part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). "While this one cell type showed little promise, there are several new cell types that are available and we will be studying them. Cell therapy can and likely will play a major role in the treatment of cardiovascular disease in the future."

"This study was extremely valuable even though it did not provide a demonstrated health benefit after six months," said Sonia Skarlatos, Ph.D., deputy director of NHLBI's Division of Cardiovascular Sciences and member of the CCTRN. "Heart stem cell therapy research is still in its infancy, and results from early trials have varied greatly due to differences in the numbers of stem cells injected, the delivery methods used, and the compositions of the study populations. With TIME and LateTIME, we have established both safety and baseline results in two large studies that followed the same procedures for growing and then administering stem cells. This standard will inform the next steps in research on the use of stem cells to repair damaged hearts."

Skarlatos noted that another advantage of the TIME study is that CCTRN is storing samples of the stem cells taken from the participants. Investigators can examine the relationship between people who showed significant improvement during the study and the characteristics of their stem cells. Such a comparison may offer insights on the cell traits that are associated with clinical improvement.

Between July 2008 and February 2011, TIME researchers enrolled 120 volunteers (average age 57, 87.5 percent male) who suffered from moderate to severe impairment in their left ventricles the part of the heart that pumps oxygen-rich blood to the body and had undergone stenting procedures following heart attacks. Those selected for the trial were assigned randomly to one of four groups: day three after heart attack stem cell injection, day three after heart attack placebo injection, day seven after heart attack stem cell treatment, or day seven after heart attack placebo treatment. The researchers developed a method of processing and purifying the stem cells to ensure that participants in the stem cell groups received a uniform dose of 150 million cells about eight hours after the cells were harvested from their bone marrow. This ensured that results would not be skewed by differences in the quantity or quality of stem cells administered.

Researchers assessed heart improvement six months after stem cell therapy by measuring the percentage of blood that was pumped out of the left ventricle during each contraction (known as the left-ventricular ejection fraction, or LVEF). The study found no significant differences between the change in LVEF readings at the six-month follow-up in either the day three or the day seven stem cell groups compared with placebo groups or with each other. Every group showed about a three percent improvement in LVEF.

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Bone marrow stem cells do not improve short-term recovery after heart attack

CombiCult® Workflow
A overview on how Plasticell (www.plasticell.co.uk) uses combinatorial cell culture (CombiCult®) to discover optimised stem cell differentiation protocols in record time, at a fraction of the cost of the status quo while reducing project return risk. CombiCult® is used by our customers in a range of applications in regenerative medicine, cell therapy and research and development.From:PlasticellLimitedViews:1 0ratingsTime:06:40More inScience Technology

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blood bank | The Development of Umbilical Cord Blood Stem Cell Therapy
http://www.cordbloodrecommendation.com Umbilical cord blood is stored immediately after delivery, when the cord is cut. Diseases that are genetically based would most likely be an allogenic transplant. Human umbilical cord blood cells are very rich in stem cells and progenitor cells which make them the perfect place to take cells from and then store them in a cord blood bank or a stem cells bank. Scientists have found that umbilical blood can actually help to treat many types of medical issues. To make a long story short, the Adult Stem Cells did the trick. This would be a significant event, which would save thousands of lives of those waiting for an organ. Why would someone opt for cord blood preservation? Well, research is continually being conducted and cells extracted from this blood has already been used to treat and cure injuries and diseases. Cord Blood Banking facilities are places where you can bank your child #39;s cord blood and use it later on in life to cure life-threatening diseases. The National Cord Blood Program staff at the New York Blood Center performs cord blood collection from the expelled placenta. Because of this amazing capacity of blood cells, they have been, still are and will continue to be used more and more to save lives and cure a number of diseases. ""Umbilical cord blood contains blood-forming cells that can be used to treat life-threatening diseases and conditions. Stem cells, researchers discovered, could cure many diseases such as leukemia and ...From:hotelesenMelgarViews:0 0ratingsTime:01:18More inScience Technology

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Stem Cells | Stem Cell Malaysia
stemcellmalaysia.com Stem cells are cells which have the potential to develop into virtually any cells of the body. The characteristics of stem cells render them great possibility in treating illness as well as health rejuvenation. Stem cells can repair and renew damaged cells as well as replace the dead ones so that a damaged organ or tissue can be healed to its healthy state. Visit Stem Cell Malaysia at http:/stemcellmalaysia.com/ for more information on stem cells and stem cell therapy.From:stemcells2012Views:1 1ratingsTime:06:33More inHowto Style

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25 Multiple Sclerosis Plr Articles
ll4.me 25 Multiple Sclerosis Plr Articles 25 Multiple Sclerosis Articles - Private Label Rights Article Topics:- Treatment For Multiple Sclerosis With No Side Effects Types Of Multiple Sclerosis What Multiple Sclerotic People Should Avoid during Christmas How To Diagnose Multiple Sclerosis How To Know If It Is A Multiple Sclerosis Relapse How To Treat Multiple Sclerosis Is Cannabis Use Beneficial For Multiple Sclerosis Lifesaving Drug For Multiple Sclerosis More Information On Multiple Sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis Association Of America All About Multiple Sclerosis Causes Of Multiple Sclerosis Childbirth May Slow Multiple Sclerosis Common Human Bacteria Triggers Multiple Sclerosis Good News On Pregnancy And Multiple Sclerosis How Is Multiple Sclerosis Classified The Clinical Part Of Multiple Sclerosis The History Of Multiple Sclerosis The Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale And Multiple Sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis Differential Diagnoses Not Everyone With Multiple Sclerosis Is On Treatment Pathophysiology Of Multiple Sclerosis Stem Cell Therapy Reverses Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms Of Multiple Sclerosis Teenage Obesity and Multiple Sclerosis Use the content on : Blogs/Content Pages Report Social Sites ecourses Convert to Audios ebook Bundle and Sell as Products Personal Education, Tips Training Whatever you might imagine... RIGHTS:- [YES] Can Be Sold [YES] Can Be Packaged [YES] Can Be Offered As a Bonus [YES] Can Be Added As Web Content [YES] Can Be Used For Product ...From:rebeccahenson9854Views:0 0ratingsTime:00:14More inPeople Blogs

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Stem Cell Research and TNG
How close is Science to providing visors for the blind? Or what about curing blindness? Have you watched the episode "The Masterpiece Society" from season 5 of TNG? Cause I have a couple of philosophical things to say about that! An article about STEM CELL therapy in regards to vision impairment: abcnews.go.com Interview with TrekMate: http://www.trekmate.org.uk ***I feel like the Star Trek community is a lot bigger then what YouTube has to offer, so I #39;ve started uploading my own videos. A lot of you will find this painfully dorky -and it is- which is why constructive criticism is welcomed. For anyone who does like my posts, thank you! It would be nice to gather a little Trekkie community :)***From:ThatTrekkieGirlViews:6 1ratingsTime:06:51More inPeople Blogs

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Thelma before Stem Cell Therapy
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Thelma before Stem Cell Therapy - Video

NEW YORK (AP) Shares of biotechnology company Pluristem Therapeutics Inc. bounced back Friday after the company responded to a report that a patient treated with its PLX stem cell therapy had died.

THE SPARK: Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported Thursday that Pluristem did not disclose the death of a young patient who had been treated with its placental cell therapy before a $32 million public stock sale in September. Shares of Pluristem fell 23 percent Thursday.

The Israeli company said Thursday evening that parts of the article were inaccurate or misleading. It said the patient, a Romanian girl whose name has not been disclosed, was "in imminent danger of death" at the time she was treated with the stem cells. She was not part of an organized clinical trial and was treated on a compassionate basis because no therapy options remained.

Pluristem said the patient lived for six months after her treatment. She returned to Romania four months before she died and the company was not monitoring her health. Pluristem said it was not aware of her death at the time it sold the additional stock. Bloomberg said the patient died Sept. 12, the day the stock sale was announced. The sale closed a week later.

"The formal report relating to the death clearly stated that there was no connection between the PLX cell treatment and the death of the patient," Pluristem said in a press release.

THE BIG PICTURE: Pluristem said that three patients have been treated with PLX on a compassionate basis including the Romanian girl and two have died. The company said it believes the patients lived longer than expected following treatment, which demonstrates that PLX therapy can be effective. The company is studying the stem cells as a treatment for peripheral artery disease, nerve pain, and other conditions.

THE STOCK: Shares of Pluristem rose 39 cents, or 13.7 percent, to $3.24 on Friday. The stock reached an annual high of $5 per share in August, and including Friday's gains, the shares are down 29 percent since the company announced the stock offering.

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Pluristem shares bounce back after Thursday plunge

Published on 10 November 2012 Hits: 58 Written by Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said that it has become necessary to issue regulations for stem cell therapy in the country. Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that guidelines for clinics offering stem cell therapy will be released immediately by the DOH and the Food and Drug Administration.

We will issue guidelines because here in the country we dont know where the stem cell offered by clinics come from, he said.

According to the DOH, stem cell therapy belongs to the category of advanced cell therapy, which includes biologics and blood. Many countries apply a risk-based approach to assess the quality, efficacy and safety of advanced cell therapy.

In many countries, stem cell is considered an investigational intervention, Ona said.

The DOH said that stem cell research employs both autologous (from same person) or allogenic (from another organism like an animal or another human cell or tissue sample) method.

Ona said that because there are many steps in the preparation of this lab and invasive procedure, there is a need to have a regulatory framework to protect Filipino citizens.

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DOH to regulate stem cell therapy in PH

PRP Vs Stem Cell Therapy
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PURTIER Live Stem Cell Therapy - 4th Edition (English Version).mp4
PURTIER Live Stem Cell Therapy - 4th Edition (English Version) Please contact Pearly @ +65 9338 9541 for more detailsFrom:PurtierPearlyViews:3 0ratingsTime:09:00More inPeople Blogs

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Govt. Appoints Task Force To Explore Stem Cell Research
Minister of Health Hon. Dr. Perry Gomez announced that the government has appointed a 10 member task force, charged with making recommendations to the government to explore stem cell therapy in The Bahamas.From:ZNSNetworkViews:5 0ratingsTime:03:27More inNews Politics

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123Triad : wwmsbiologicscom
123Triad is proud to design website for http://www.wwmsbiologics.com WorldWide Medical Services Inc. is a company that for more than 10 years is dedicated to utilizing the most innovative technologies to provide its clients with the highest quality services. Worldwide Medical Services specializes in the Intra-operative treatment of surgical patients. One of their most exciting new products is platelet gel and adult stem cell therapy services which can be provided in a hospital or office setting. their Autotransfusion service is available 24/7 on a scheduled or emergency basis.From:123triadcoViews:0 0ratingsTime:00:36More inScience Technology

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Public release date: 6-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Steve Goodyear sgoodyear@mhif.org 952-807-8365 Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation

MINNEAPOLIS, MN November 6, 2012 Administering autologous stem cells obtained from bone marrow either 3 or 7 days following a heart attack did not improve heart function six months later, reports a new clinical trial supported by the National Institutes of Health. The results of this trial, called TIME (Transplantation In Myocardial Infarction Evaluation), were presented by Jay Traverse, MD of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the 2012 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association in Los Angeles.

The results of this trial mirror a previous, related study (LateTIME) which found that autologous bone marrow stem cell therapy given 2-3 weeks after a heart attack did not improve cardiac recovery. Both TIME and LateTIME were carried out by the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), sponsored by the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"The data presented by TIME do much to advance stem cell therapy research," said Jay Traverse, MD of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Principal Investigator of this study. "While this study did not provide a demonstrated cardiac benefit after six months, we still learned a great deal. Together, TIME and Late TIME have shown that stem cell therapy is safe, and they have set a baseline in terms of quantity of stem cells, type of stem cells, and severity of heart attack."

TIME enrolled 120 volunteers (avg. age 57) between July 2008 and February 2011; the participants all had moderate to severe impairment in their left ventricle and had undergone coronary stent placement as treatment for the heart attack. The participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups: day 3 stem cell, day 3 placebo (inactive cells), day 7 stem cell, or day 7 placebo. The CCTRN researchers developed a method of processing and purifying the stem cells from the bone marrow of each volunteer to ensure everyone received a uniform dose (150 million stem cells).

Heart improvement was assessed six months after stem cell therapy by measuring the percentage of blood that gets pumped out of the left ventricle during each contraction (left-ventricular ejection fraction, or LVEF). The study found no significant differences between the change in LVEF readings at the six month follow-up in either the Day 3 or Day 7 stem cell groups compared with placebo or with each other; every group showed about a 3 percent improvement in LVEF. However, the researchers found that younger patients randomized to Day 7 had greater improvement in their LVEF compared to their placebo counterparts

"The lack of six-month improvement seen for TIME and, prior to that, LateTIME, does not mean stem cell therapy is not a viable post-heart attack strategy," said Traverse. "Because we have this data we can start to address some parameters; for example this therapy may work better in younger people, or maybe we need to use cells from healthy volunteers (allogeneic) since their cells may provide greater therapeutic benefit. There will also be upcoming studies using novel cell types which we look forward to using in future clinical trials."

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Stem cell therapy using patient's own cells after heart attack does not enhance cardiac recovery

MANILA, Philippines -- The Department of Health (DOH) has announced its plan to regulate stem cell therapy in the country.

Stem cell treatment involves the use of adult stem cells to treat a range of diseases.

The Health Department believes that because of the complex preparation and invasive procedure involved, there needs to be a regulatory framework to protect Filipino citizens.

The regulation of laboratories and practitioners involves five key points.

First is a check on the credentials of people involved in the service, as stem cell treatment is a specialized field. The supply of raw materials will also have to be monitored, making sure especially that they do not come from aborted fetuses.

Laboratories will be scrutinized for their procedures, sanitation and safety. Therapeutic claims, on the other hand, are also up for strict assessment, to make sure that these are based on solid scientific evidence.

Finally, the DOH also wants a report on the possible failure of treatments, to find out if there are negative outcomes to stem cell therapy.

"Those who are going to other countries for stem cell treatment should also check if their destination allows stem cell tourism," clarified FDA Acting Director Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go.

The DOH said consultations with stakeholders are still ongoing, but it expects a set of guidelines to be released by next month.

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Stem cell therapy to be regulated in PH

Washington, November 7 (ANI): Stem cell therapy improves heart function in patients who had previous heart attacks, according to researchers from the University of Louisville and Brigham and Women's Hospital.

In a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial session at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2012 meeting, Roberto Bolli, M.D., of the University of Louisville and Piero Anversa, M.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, presented data from their groundbreaking research in the use of autologous adult stem cells with patients who had previous heart attacks.

They report that after two years, all patients receiving the stem cell therapy show improvement in heart function, with an overall 12.9 absolute unit increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a standard measure of heart function that shows the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle during a heartbeat.

No adverse effects resulting from the therapy were seen. Moreover, MRIs performed on nine patients in the trial showed evidence of myocardial regeneration - new heart tissue replacing former dead tissue killed by heart attack.

"The trial shows the feasibility of isolating and expanding autologous stem cells from virtually every patient," said Bolli, who is the Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology and director of the Institute for Molecular Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at UofL.

"The results suggest that this therapy has a potent, beneficial effect on cardiac function that warrants further study," he stated.

The trial - called SCIPIO for Stem Cell Infusion in Patients with Ischemic CardiOmyopathy - was a randomized open-label trial of cardiac stem cells (CSCs) in patients who were diagnosed with heart failure following a myocardial infarction and had a LVEF of 40 percent or lower; the normal LVEF is 50 percent or higher.

The investigators harvested the CSCs, referred to as "c-kit positive" cells because they express the c-kit protein on their surface, from 33 patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. The stem cells were purified and processed in Anversa's lab in Boston so that they could multiply. Once an adequate number of stem cells was produced - about one million for each patient - Bolli's team in Louisville reintroduced them into the region of the patient's heart that had been scarred by the heart attack.

The researchers reported that in the 20 patients receiving CSCs, LVEF increased from 29 percent to 36 percent at four months following infusion. None of the 13 control patients in the trial received CSCs and this group showed, on average, no improvement.

The beneficial effect of the CSCs persisted and became progressively greater at the one- and two-year mark following infusion. At the one-year mark following infusion, LVEF increased by 8.1 percent, and at the two-year mark, by 12.9 percent.

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Stem cell therapy improves heart function 2 years after heart attack

April Flowers for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Conflicting studies were highlighted at this years American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting concerning stem cell therapy for heart attack patients.

The first study, from the University of Louisville and Brigham and Womens Hospital, reported holy grail results for a Phase I clinical trial: marked sustained improvement in all patients with zero adverse effects.

Roberto Bolli, M.D., of the University of Louisville and Piero Anversa, M.D., of Brigham and Womens Hospital presented data from their groundbreaking research in the use of autologous adult stem cells with patients who had previous heart attacks in a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial session.

The researchers report that all patients receiving the stem cell therapy showed improved heart function after two years, with an overall 12.9 absolute unit increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). LVEF is a standard measure of heart function that shows the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle during a heartbeat. They saw no adverse effects from the therapy. In fact, nine patients showed evidence of myocardial regeneration new tissue replacing formerly dead tissue killed by heart attack in MRI scans.

The trial shows the feasibility of isolating and expanding autologous stem cells from virtually every patient, said Bolli, who is the Jewish Hospital Heart and Lung Institute Distinguished Chair in Cardiology and director of the Institute for Molecular Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at UofL. The results suggest that this therapy has a potent, beneficial effect on cardiac function that warrants further study.

In all patients, cells with high regenerative reserve were obtained and employed therapeutically, said Anversa, professor of Anesthesia and Medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Our efforts to carefully characterize the phenotype and growth properties of the cardiac stem cells may have contributed to these initial positive results.

The Stem Cell Infusion in Patients with Ischemic CardiOmyopathy, or SCIPIO, trial was a randomized open-label trial of cardiac stem cells (CSCs) in patients who were diagnosed with heart failure following a myocardial infarction and had a LVEF of 40 percent or lower. A normal LVEF reading is 50 percent or higher.

The CSCs, referred to as c-kit positive cells because they express the c-kit protein on their surface, were harvested from 33 patients during coronary artery bypass surgery. The stem cells were then purified and processed so that they could multiply, and once an adequate number was produced about one million for each patient they were reintroduced into the region of the patients heart that suffered scarring during the heart attack.

At four months after infusion, the researchers report that LVEF increased from 29 percent to 36 percent for 200 patients. On average, the 13 control patients who did not receive a CSC infusion showed any improvement.

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Studies On Stem Cell Therapy After Heart Attack Show Mixed Results