Stem cells treat primary Pulmonary hypertension, DCM, claim docs

Stem cells can be used to treat primary pulmonary hypertension and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), both of which had no known cure till date, said two renowned city-based doctors here today.

Claiming success in using stem cell therapy to treat seven patients, Dr Shalin Thakore, a cardiologist, and Dr Himanshu Patel, an embryologist, said they had used stem cells extracted from the patient's own blood, allowed them to grow from 1 per cent to 6 per cent and then injected them into his/her artery.

While for the four PPH patients, these arteries were injected through the lung artery, for the cardiomyopathy patients it was done through coronary artery. ''All of them are doing well,'' said Dr Thakore.

''We had first tried the stem cell therapy with patients who had had heart attacks. Encouraged by the success, we tried it with PPH patients, with incurable conditions,'' they told a news conference here.

Dr Thakore said the first patient with PPH underwent stem cell infusion in the pulmonary artery in November. ''Her improvement was miraculous. Within few days, she was taken off oxygen and her PA pressure decreased to 65 mmHg. She was discharged from the hospital five days after the procedure and she was now able to carry out her routine household activities,'' he said.

The stem cell therapy has never been reported for the treatment of the disease, he added.

Talking about her experience, Kaushalya Bhavsar, aged 42, said her family had given up hope that she would ever survive. ''But there was hope when we read in papers about the success of the therapy in heart attack patients. So, we came forward for the therapy.'' Kamini's brother, who is also patient, said, ''My sister had developed cardiomyopathy, a rare form of heart disease during pregnancy with an unpredictable outcome. We had lost all hope about her survival chances. Her blood pressure was 70/30 (normal is 120/80). We had nothing to lose, when we volunteered to take the treatment.'' The costs of the treatment, including the hospitalisation charges, were Rs one lakh, said Dr Patel.

Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH) or unexplained pulmonary hypertension is a lung disorder in which the blood pressure in the pulmonary artery rises far above normal levels for no apparent reason.

Pulmonary artery is a blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lung. The normal pulmonary artery pressure is less than 30 mmHg in patients with PPH the pressure is progressively putting a strain on the heart leading to fatigue, tiredness, difficulty in breathing, dizziness and swelling of the feet. The diagnosis of PPH is often delayed due to slow progress and insidious onset of symptoms.

Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the condition, where the muscles of the heart become weak for no apparent reason, leading to an enlargement of the heart. Patients with DCM present with difficulty in breathing and tiredness.

Both diseases occur commonly in patients between the age of 20-40 years. The diseases are more common in females and also after pregnancy.

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