According to scientists in the USA, stem
cell therapy may one day be able to repair the hearts of people with heart
failure. Researchers at Pittsburgh University School of Medicine examined 20
patients who had severe heart failure and were going to have surgery.
They injected stem cells into the parts of their hearts that were
damaged. They then compared their hearts with those of people who had undergone
surgery without having the stem cells injected into them (they had also suffered
from severe heart failure). The patients who had the stem cells injected had
hearts that were able to pump (用泵抽运) more blood than the others.
According to Professor Robert Kormos, one of the researchers, these
results could revolutionize heart treatment. Although previous studies had
indicated that there might be a benefit, this is the first study that has
actually proved that stem cell therapy can help the failing heart work
better. All the patients in this study had hearts that could
not pump blood properly. The scientists measured their ejection fraction (射血分数).
It is a measure of heart performance; you measure how much blood is being pumped
out by the left ventricle (心室). Healthy people's ejection
fraction is about 55%. These patients had ejection fraction of under 35%. They
all had by-pass surgery (搭桥手术) performed on them. Some of the patients had stem
cells taken from their hip bones and injected into 25-30 sites in the damaged
heart muscle. Six months later their ejection fraction rate was 46.1% while
those who just had surgery but no stem cell injections averaged 37.2%.
No side effects were reposed. Heart failure is a common
problem all over the world. In the UK alone about 650,000 people suffer from
heart failure every year. As the number of people suffering from heart failure
increases in the world in general these findings are particularly
significant. Current treatments relieve the symptoms. This new
stem cell therapy actually repairs the damaged muscle in the heart and has the
potential of curing the disease.
单选题
The 20 patients had stem cell injections instead of surgery.