Scientists from the University of Bristol have pioneered the use of stem cells to treat heart disease in a baby. It has been reported live science.
A boy named Finley was born two years ago in England. He had open heart surgery four days after his birth. The boy had a rare heart defect – displacement of the great vessels. With this defect, the aorta and pulmonary trunk are displaced, which leads to oxygen starvation of the body and heart failure.
After the baby spent several weeks in intensive care, Dr. Massimo Caputo suggested that Finlay’s parents consider injecting stem cells into the heart. The boy’s veins were damaged in the first surgery and healed very slowly, risking his survival.
Caputo develops a patch containing donor stem cells that can be stitched to the heart during surgery. Unlike standard synthetic patches or replacement heart valves, these patches will not need to be changed as the child grows.
Caputo’s Band-Aid still needs healing, so stem cells were injected during Finley’s second open-heart surgery. The scientist suggests that this will allow the heart vessels to heal better and the blood flow in the child’s heart will become healthier. According to Live Science, parents noticed positive changes in Finley’s condition two weeks after the stem cell injection.