By David Prentice

Editor's note. This can be found along with links at http://www.frcblog.com/2010/07/chronic-heart-failure-treated-with-adult-stem-cells/

A German team led by Prof. Dr. med. Bodo Strauer has published the results of a long-term study of treating chronic heart failure patients with adult stem cells. The study, published in the European Journal of Heart Failure, is the largest study to date of patients treated for heart failure with bone marrow adult stem cells. [http://www.frcblog.com/2010/07/chronic-heart-failure-treated-with-adult-stem-cells]

The results show that treatment with adult stem cells improves heart pumping performance, quality of life and survival in patients with heart failure.

In this long-term study, 391 patients with chronic heart failure were studied. Of this total, 191 patients received intracoronary injections of their own bone marrow adult stem cells, while 200 patients served as the control group. The patients' heart condition and overall health were followed for up to five years. Patients who received adult stem cells showed a significant improvement in heart function and a significant decrease in long-term mortality, with no side effects, compared with the control group.

This long-term study provides further evidence of the effectiveness of adult stem cells for treatment of heart damage. Prof. Dr. med. Strauer and his team continue to be leaders in the application of adult stem cell transplants to treat heart conditions. Strauer and his colleagues recently published a book on the use of adult stem cells for heart treatments.