Posted on 03/05/2003 4:15:24 PM PST by RJCogburn
Michigan doctors are hoping that their first-of-a-kind stem cell treatment will help a teenage boy regain lost heart tissue after he was shot in the heart by a nail gun and subsequently suffered a massive heart attack.
The experimental procedure used stem cells harvested from the boy's own blood, which were later infused into the damaged portion of his heart via a catheter.
A team of doctors gathered Wednesday and announced the preliminary results of the procedure at a news conference at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak.
In the stem cell procedure, which was performed February 21, the boy was initially given a drug that helps stimulate the production of stem cells in the blood. Stem cells were then harvested and concentrated from the boy's blood and the solution was infused directly into the damaged artery, explained Dr. Steven Timmis, one of the cardiologists overseeing the boy's care.
The aim of the procedure is to stimulate blood vessel and heart muscle growth in areas of the heart without sufficient blood supply, Timmis said in a telephone interview.
Stem cells are so-called master cells that can develop into various tissues in the body and using them to repair damaged hearts is a hot area of medical research.
People who survive a major attack are often left with damaged heart muscle, which reduces the heart's pumping capacity and can result in progressive heart failure.
Earlier this year, German and Hong Kong researchers conducted a similar procedure in heart attack patients, but the stem cells were harvested from the patient's bone marrow--a procedure that is far more invasive than the one used in the Michigan teen. Last April, Australian surgeons carried out the world's first trial using bone-marrow stem cells to repair heart damage in a 74-year-old man.
According to Timmis, after the nail gun incident occurred on February 1, Dimitri Bonnville, who is 16, underwent emergency surgery to remove the nail and close the wound. Subsequently, the boy suffered a heart attack due to his initial injury and underwent additional surgery in which a stent was used to open a major heart artery that had become blocked.
Because the boy's heart was in such grave condition, and chances for improvement were deemed slim by his attending physicians, the team decided to try the experimental stem cell procedure.
His only other option, according to Timmis, was an eventual heart transplant.
"We wanted to see if we could offer something that would perhaps slow the tide of deterioration (of his heart) and maybe even reverse it," Timmis told Reuters Health.
If the gamble works and heart function is restored, the boy may be able to avoid a heart transplant, the cardiologist noted.
So far, Timmis says that the team of doctors "were encouraged" noting that the boys "heart function went from about 25 percent at the original assessment of his ventricle to about 35 percent at the time of discharge."
Whether or not this improvement is a result of the stem cells or the other medical procedures that the teen has undergone can only be determined over time.
For now, the doctors will continue to monitor the boy's heart and overall health. In approximately three months Timmis said that they will reassess the fate of the stem cells.
"I would think that if we are going to see any recovery of heart muscle we would see it by three months, if it is going to happen at all," he said.
The stem cell transplant "went exactly as planned, lasting less than 60 minutes," added Timmis. "Dimitri tolerated the treatment very well, experiencing no complications."
In addition to the stem cell transplant, Bonnville also had a defibrillator implanted in his chest to help maintain a regular heartbeat, according to Timmis.
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