Pioneering surgery implants stem cells in heart 05/02/2007 00:00

5 February 2007

MADRID — Spanish doctors carried out the world's first operation to implant stem-cells from fatty tissue into the heart.

The patient, a 67-year-old Spaniard, was given the pioneering treatment for chest angina and damaged coronary arteries. 

The five-hour operation was performed last month, but doctors at the Gregorio Maranon Hospital in Madrid only made the results public on Monday.

Doctors said it could make it possible for the patient, who was not named, to have a normal life.

They claimed it marked a "medical landmark".

The operation consisted in three stages; firstly the extraction of fat from the abdomen through liposuction, secondly, the separation of the right cells and finally their implantation into the heart.

The patient was said to be doing well, said Doctor Francisco Fernández-Avilés, head of the team.

But he said it was important to be cautious about the treatment as it was as yet "a hope, not a reality".

"We believe in its potential but we are still at an initial phase," he added.

For this patient, doctors extracted 300 grammes of fat which contain 28 million cells.

The technique was first tested on 36 patients with the help of American cardiologist Emerson Perin, from Houston in the US.

The chosen patient had undergone other treatment which had not worked so doctors did not have any other option.

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news