What
Is The Point??
- The demand for donor hearts far outstrips the supply - receiving a heart transplant takes a very long time and is rare. There are about 2,000 heart transplants performed every year, but there are several thousand more patients that would benefit from a donated heart, were it available. [4]
- A heart attack leaves major portions of the heart scarred and dysfunctional, increasing the work load of the heart and probability of another heart attack [3]. Due to the drastic surgical procedure and related complications, one year survival rate is around 80% and steadily deteriorates for longer periods of time [4].
- Hearts after a myocardial infarction usually have poor oxygen supply due to damaged blood vessels. This then leads to further stress on the heart and greater damage. The vicious spiral continues until the heart can no longer function well enough to sustain the person [1].
- One of the major complications with organ transplants is the possibility of immune rejection due to the body’s natural immune response.
Solution: The Cardiac Patch
- A sheet of cardiac cells grown in the lab could be implanted into the normal heart. These cells would take over the responsibilities of the damaged cells, reducing the overall workload on the heart [2]. If implanted correctly, they completely replace damaged cells and also become integrated into the actual heart, increasing its efficiency.
- Depending on the cells that constitute the patch, it can also release agents that promote new blood vessel growth, helping to repair the heart [1]. This approach directly averts further problems by increasing the amount of oxygen given to the damaged part of the heart.
- A complete heart transplant would not be necessary if one region of the heart could be rehabilitated through the cardiac patch [3]. If it is a localized part of the heart that reduces the organ’s efficiency, a small cardiac patch could be substituted to restore the organ’s functionality. Such an approach would not only help patients with this problem, but would also benefit other cardiac patients since it would reduce the demand of complete heart replacements.
- With further development on the cardiac patch and viable sources of progenitor cells, the complication of immune rejection may be averted. If the cardiac patch can be cultured with a given patient’s stem cell, the patch of tissue will have the same cell markings as the natural heart and will be accepted as a natural part of the body and not elicit an immune response [3].
