Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy in 2 Year Old

Giessen, Germany -

Adult stem cell therapy has previously been used for heart failure, primarily in acute post-infarct situations.  In a very interesting paper (Rupp et al. Intracoronary administration of autologous bone marrow-derived progenitor cells in a critically ill two-yr-old child with dilated cardiomyopathy. Pediatr Transplant 2008 Nov 26) autologous bone marrow was administered to a critically ill two year old suffering from severe heart failure associated with dilated cardiomyopathy.  Stem cells were administered through the intracoronary route in the form of bone marrow mononuclear cells.  Improvement in cardiac function and lack of treatment associated adverse effects was reported.

This paper indicates that stem cell therapy may be useful for other cardiac conditions besides prevention of post-infarct remodelling.