Stem cell therapy flourishing in AIIMS

Stem cells are special, as they have the capacity of developing into any kind of tissue8212;simple skin tissue to tissue of the eye, heart, liver or anything else.

In theory at least, the procedure is simple: blood is taken from the sternum the breast bone of patients undergoing a bypass. As the bypass procedure gets underway, a team of doctors separate the stem cells. After the surgery, the cells are injected into the non-functional muscles of the heart, and over time, they develop into heart tissues, says Dr Venugopal.

The patient can be discharged in about six to seven days and follow-up checks are made periodically over one year.

The AIIMS results have been convincing.

All patients showed significant improvement over time8212;on an average 63.9 per cent improvement in 18 months. In case of the first few surgeries, the scar is completely gone and the heart muscles are functioning normally. No deaths have been reported so far.

The story, however, does not end here.

While the AIIMS study has been validated by Indian Council of Medical Research ICMR, India attracted a lot of negetive publicity after a small time clinic in Delhi8217;s Gautam Nagar claimed to have successfully treated 100 patients.

When Dr Geeta Shroff, owner of the clinic, appeared before the ICMR experts, instead of giving the details about the treatment, she reiterated that her 8220;satisfied8221; patients are proof enough.