|
 Teddy bears. Tiny hands. The beating of a broken heart. Cardiologists
can save an adult's life, but what about a child's? Congenital heart defects range
from mild to severe and affect 8 of every 1,000 newborns. Heart problems
include premature ventricular contraction (PVC), aortic stenosis, atrial septal
defect (ASD), and contraction of the aorta. These and other medical conditions
occur during the first stage of pregnancy and can prevent the proper
functioning of a child's heart.
Fortunately, medical researchers at Children's Hospital Boston
and Massachusetts General
Hospital are working hard
to save kids' hearts. Their efforts involve extracting patches of
cardiomyocytes that are capable of re-entering the cell cycle, and then
incubating the cardiomyocytes in periostin before placing the patch of cells
over the infarct site. Cardiomyocytes are
rod-shaped cardiac muscle cells that augment contractile function. Periostin is
a material that surrounds cells and is made by the skin found around bones.
Infarct - that gruesome word - refers to heart tissue that is in the process of
dying or is already dead.
To observe the reactions that occur within the heart, these researchers
have applied patches of cardiomyocytes and a control unit of gel-foam to rats
with induced heart attacks. So far, the results are promising. After three months
with the patch, periostin was still being released. Results included a
strengthening of the heart's pumping ability, improved remodeling of the
ventricles, and decreased stress on the left-ventricular wall. A reduction of
scarring, a decrease in infarct tissue, and the creation of a larger network of
blood vessels were also apparent.
 So how could doctors use this procedure to fix a child's
broken heart? One of the researchers, Bernard Kuhn, proposes using the patch to
increase the number of cardiomyocytes. This would help keep a kid's heart
pumping and counter the effects of congenital heart disease. Mark Keating, a
senior investigator for the study, reports that a good way to help children
with congenital heart diseases would be to infuse the best parts of the
periostin molecules right where the heart needs more tissue. Methods of
application would include a catheter or heart surgery.
The researchers' approach is an optimistic healing process
in that it doesn't seem to have any side effects or involve any sort of
drug. Hopefully, with time, their visions
of what this could do will come true!
Resources:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/congenital_heart_defects.html
http://www.childrenshospital.org/
http://www.massgeneral.org/
For information on other heart problem research visit Fixing a Broken Heart Part 1
| 
