Heart valves fashioned from stem cells in umbilical cord blood

"Stem cells collected at birth from the umbilical cord may help doctors fashion new heart valves for children born with heart valve defects. The tissue-engineered valves would have the advantage of growing with the child, the German researchers said. 'If we replace a valve in a child, they will need surgery several times in their lifetime, because they will grow out of the devices, so the ultimate goal is to have a construct which is able to grow with the child and only have to do the surgery once,' said study author Dr. Ralf Sodian, a cardiac surgeon at University Hospital of Munich. 'Earlier is better, if it's possible.' Presenting Monday at the American Heart Association's annual scientific sessions in New Orleans, Sodian reported that his team took stem cells from umbilical cord blood, stored them for 12 weeks, then seeded them on to eight heart valve scaffolds" - HealthDay