British team lead stem cell heart surgery that could end need for transplants

A major advance in treatment for millions of heart patients has been heralded by revolutionary stem cell surgery, developed by a British-based team of scientists. The researchers at Imperial College London are perfecting a technique to rebuild a heart severely damaged and scarred by disease or cardiac arrest. They have discovered a way to extract, grow in the laboratory and then graft on a patient's own muscle-building cells which then can be used to patch up the heart and increase its pumping power. Eventually it could end the need for transplants, revolutionise heart surgery and reduce the 238,000 lives lost every year to heart disease, the UK's biggest killer. What is more, it could increase the quality of life for the million or so people who suffer a heart attack every year. The world-leading research, which is being led by the American Professor Michael Schneider, was last night awarded The Medical Futures Innovation Award, otherwise known as a medical Oscar. Dr Nicholas Boon, President of the British Cardiovascular Society and one of the judges for the awards, said: "This could transform the care for patients who have had heart attacks or have heart disease. "Because the cell therapy uses a patient's own cells, it negates the risks or complications associated with other treatment options such as rejection linked to transplantation." - Telegraph