A woman with severe heart failure was able to remain stable for three months while awaiting a transplant, thanks to an experimental stem cell-derived heart patch. The procedure, conducted as part of a clinical trial at University Medical Center Göttingen, involved implanting ten patches of lab-grown heart muscle cells into the patient’s heart.
Heart failure often follows damage from conditions like heart attacks. Because heart muscle cells do not regenerate easily, severe cases typically require a transplant. However, with limited donor organs available, researchers have been exploring alternative therapies.
The patches in this study were created using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which were reprogrammed from adult cells and encouraged to develop into heart muscle tissue. When mixed with collagen, the resulting structure formed a patch that could be implanted onto the heart’s surface.
Preclinical trials in rhesus macaques showed that these patches could thicken heart walls and improve function without causing irregular heartbeats or tumors, which had been a concern in previous studies. Encouraged by these results, researchers proceeded with human trials. The woman who received the transplant later had her old heart examined, revealing that the patches had begun forming blood vessels, indicating integration with the body’s circulatory system.
This approach could serve as a solution for patients on long waitlists and minimized the need for immunosuppressant drugs.
