Heart patch ready for patient trials

A "pumping" patch containing millions of living, beating stem cells could help repair the damage caused by a heart attack, according to researchers, the BBC reports.

Sewn on to the heart, the 3cm by 2cm patch, grown in a lab from a sample of the patient's own cells, then turns itself into healthy working muscle. It also releases chemicals that repair and regenerate existing heart cells.

Tests in rabbits show it appears safe, Imperial College London experts told a leading heart conference in Manchester. Patient trials should start in the next two years, the British Cardiovascular Society meeting heard.

A heart attack happens when a clogged artery blocks blood flow to the heart muscle, starving it of oxygen and nutrients. This can damage the heart's pumping power and lead to incurable heart failure.

– One day, we hope to add heart patches to the treatments that doctors can routinely offer people after a heart attack. We could prescribe one of these patches alongside medicines for someone with heart failure, which you could take from a shelf and implant straight in to a person – researcher Dr Richard Jabbour said.

Imperial College London

heart patch

Richard Jabbour

heart surgery

heart attack

heart patch trials