Treatment of myocardial infarction with stem cells

Treatment of myocardial infarction with stem cells

Treatment of myocardial infarction. How to cure myocardial infarction using cell therapy

Myocardial infarction is the necrosis of the heart muscle due to a critical decrease or loss of blood supply. This condition is life-threatening. Predisposition to myocardial infarction may be genetically determined, but lifestyle factors play a significant role in the occurrence of this disease. As a rule, men over the age of 60 face this pathology.
If a myocardial infarction is suspected, the patient needs urgent medical care in a hospital. The most important for the prognosis and quality of life of a patient after a heart attack is the care that is provided to the patient in the next 12-24, but the total duration of treatment is several months.

Treatment of myocardial infarction is divided into several stages.

First aid. All patients with myocardial infarction or suspicion require emergency medical care. Such assistance includes, first of all, restriction of the patient’s mobility, rest, in many cases — a ban on independent movement and transportation of the patient using a stretcher. Most patients require anesthesia — as a rule, nitroglycerin under the tongue acts as a medicinal and at the same time analgesic drug — it helps to improve blood supply to the heart muscle, and as a result of reducing the lesion area, the pain effect also decreases. Nitroglycerin can be used at the stage of self-care before the arrival of specialists. Patients with extensive lesions may experience severe pain, in which the use of narcotic analgesics is necessary, such drugs are administered by emergency doctors.
At the first stages of medical care for myocardial infarction, it is often necessary to restore the volume of circulating blood by injecting a large amount of saline. This happens because a damaged heart muscle during a myocardial infarction cannot pump the same amount of blood as in a healthy state, and the patient`s pressure begins to drop, worsening his condition or causing an immediate threat to life. An increase in the volume of circulating vascular fluid leads to a rapid artificial increase in blood pressure.

After the patient is delivered to the hospital, the patient receives intensive specialized medical care. These types of medical care include two main links:

• Thrombolytic drugs. This is the main therapeutic procedure. Thrombolytic drugs are drugs that dissolve blood clots formed in the arteries. The main cause of myocardial infarction is a vascular thrombus that clogs the lumen of the artery and, accordingly, the main therapeutic goal is to dissolve this thrombus. Over the past 10 years, there has been a significant development of drugs that are used for this purpose. In some rare mild cases, it is possible to manage exclusively with thrombolytic therapy without surgical intervention.
• Supportive medications. ACE inhibitors are used to reduce the load on the heart. ACE is an angiotensin converting enzyme. It is needed to reduce the excretion of fluid from the body and increase blood pressure. After the patient`s condition is stabilized, it becomes important to maintain a healthy blood pressure level and prevent an increase. In addition to the effect on blood pressure, drugs of this group reduce the risk of recurrent thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Depending on the patient`s condition, ACE inhibitors are prescribed either in the early period or in courses for 4-6 weeks.
• Stenting. This is the main method of treatment, which, after the start of widespread use, increased the survival rate after myocardial infarction tenfold. To perform stenting, a catheter is inserted into the artery lumen under X-ray control. This catheter is connected to a balloon, which can be inflated when the catheter reaches the right place of the artery, thus increasing its width and restoring blood flow. A metal mesh stent is inserted into the artery so that it remains open and maintains a normal blood supply to the heart constantly.
  All of the above surgical and therapeutic methods are effective and necessary, they significantly increase survival and help patients after myocardial infarction to maintain an active lifestyle and ability to work. However, considering that the majority of patients after a heart attack face serious limitations (shortness of breath, fatigue, a ban on intense physical activity, the need for lifelong use of cardiological drugs), new means are constantly being sought to ensure not just the restoration of blood flow, but also full regeneration. In recent years, stem cells have become widely used as such drugs.
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Treatment of myocardial infarction with stem cells

The general clinical experience of using stem cells in myocardial infarction is about 20 years, during which time the effectiveness was carefully studied and the absence of any side effects was recorded.
To use stem cells of this kind, the patient`s adipose tissue is taken (it is also possible to use venous blood of patients), stem cells are selected from it and, and then the modified cells are injected back to the patient. Stem cells, under the influence of biologically active substances secreted by the damaged heart muscle, independently differentiate into the necessary cells and tissues. This promotes the regeneration of the heart muscle and, very importantly, prevents the formation of a post-infarction scar, which reduces the conductivity of the electrical pulse during contraction of the heart muscle. Thus, the area of tissue insensitive to electrical impulses is significantly reduced. There are no other therapeutic methods aimed at reducing scar tissue at the moment. Considering that only own stem cells are used for the procedure, there are no clinically significant side effects.
As a rule, 1.5 — 2 months after the introduction of stem cells, there is an improvement in the condition.
The cost of treating the consequences of myocardial infarction with stem cells largely depends on the patient`s condition and the chosen clinic.

Clinics and experts who successfully treat myocardial infarction with stem cells

Stem cell treatment of various diseases has become more and more common in recent years and more and more doctors are practicing this type of treatment in different fields. Among the doctors who have many years of successful experience in the use of stem cells in cardiology, including in myocardial infarction in Ukraine, one can single out Dr. Kovalchuk and Dr. Badyin. Both of these specialists have extensive clinical practice with good results in the treatment of this pathology with stem cells with an increase in the life expectancy of patients and an improvement in cardiogram indicators.

If you still have questions, you can ask for a free consultation with the doctor- coordinator of MedTour.