The Apollo Bramwell Stem Cell Therapy Program offers traditional open heart surgeries and catheterization lab procedures in conjunction with stem cell therapy or can offer stem cell therapy alone for cardiovascular diseases.

The initial stages of heart failure are managed with medical therapy and end-stage heart failure is managed with surgical procedures in addition to medical therapy.

Treatments include traditional myocardial (heart muscle) revascularization (the restoration of blood supply), ventricular assist devices and ultimately heart transplantation.  In the event of these traditional interventions proving ineffective, autologous (the patients own) bone marrow derived stem cell therapy has shown to be a safe and effective treatment alternative.

Ischemic heart disease is the term given to heart problems caused by narrowed heart arteries. When arteries are narrowed, less blood and oxygen reaches the heart muscle. This is also called coronary artery disease and coronary heart disease. This can ultimately lead to heart attack. [1]  

Dilated cardiomyopathy is a disease in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and enlarged, and it cannot pump blood efficiently. The decreased heart function can affect the lungs, liver, and other body systems. For some patients, the disease is life-threatening. Dilated cardiomyopathy is a common cause of heart failure and often causes irregular heartbeats (arrhythmia), blood clots or sudden death. The condition may affect people of all ages (including infants and children), but it is most often diagnosed in middle age. [4] [5]   

Although surgical and catheter based revascularization of ischemic myocardium can treat angina, reduce the risk of myocardial infarction, and improve function of viable myocardium, these treatments cannot restore the viability of severely ischemic and/or necrotic myocardium. Thus, the aim of cardiac cellular transplantation is to repopulate the ailing myocardium with cells that may restore contractility and blood supply.   Consequently, autologous bone marrow has become the most practical and safest alternative, as pre-clinical data suggest that subsets of bone marrow derived cells may be able to generate both functional cardiomyocytes and blood vessels.  

Autologous bone marrow mononuclear cells contain hematopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial progenitor cells which are needed for the growth of new blood vessels. Evidence shows that endothelial progenitor cells present in bone marrow has contributed to neovascularization (the formation of new blood vessels) in patients with ischemic cardiovascular diseases. Both experimental and clinical results indicate a therapeutic potential for endothelial progenitor cells in the treatment of the ischemic cardiovascular diseases in which even traditional revascularization procedures are either precluded or ineffective. [7]  

Studies have proven that in patients with acute myocardial infarction, intracoronary infusion of autologous progenitor cells has shown to be feasible and safe and also beneficially affects the post-infarction remodeling processes. [8]   

In one of the many studies undertaken with bone marrow derived stem cell therapy delivered after acute myocardial infarction, bone marrow-derived cells improved patients’ cardiac function. Three months after intracoronary cell therapy, the infarct size was reduced by 30%, whereas the global left ventricular ejection fraction increased by 15% and regional infarct wall movement velocity by 57%. These results demonstrate that functional and metabolic regeneration of infarcted and chronically unviable tissue can be realized in humans by bone marrow mononuclear cell transplantation. [9]  

The injection of autologous bone marrow cells in conjunction with coronary artery bypass grafting has shown to be more beneficial than coronary artery bypass grafting alone. In a randomised study, autologous stem cell transplantation led to significant improvement in cardiac function in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting for ischemic cardiomyopathy. [10]  
 

Upon registration, the doctor performing the SCT will give you a physical examination and your medical records will be reviewed once again. Your doctor may order additional testing, such as blood tests or radiological testing. The following day one of our specialists will harvest bone marrow from your hip. This procedure normally takes 30-60 minutes. You are then given sedative medications and local anesthesia is administered to the area of the skin where a small incision is made to aspirate the bone marrow.

A special bone marrow needle will be used to collect 120 ml of bone marrow, which will be processed in a special machine to separate the mononucleated cells from the rest of the bone marrow.   The specialist doctor (cardiologist or cardiac surgeon) will then administer your concentrated mononucleated cells back to you. This process is done through catheter based Interventional cardiology or through intramuscular injection.  

During the whole procedure you will be under strict cardiac monitoring.  

The medical team will monitor you for 2 to 24 hours after the administration of the therapy. Generally, a stay of two days or longer is required in the hospital, depending on the condition of the individual patient.  
 

The medical records required by the Apollo Bramwell Hospital to determine your eligibility for stem cell therapy for acute myocardial infarction and ischemic heart disease are:  

Please note that the medical records supplied need to be no older than three months.  

Stem cell therapy for acute myocardial infarction, ischemic heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy and chronic heart failure should be considered for patients who have exhausted all traditional medicinal and surgical interventions. Autologous mononuclear stem cell therapy has provided evidence-based medicine to prove safety and efficacy in treating these diseases. There is however, no guarantee of treatment efficacy and treatment results will vary on a patient by patient basis. Some patients may experience no improvement in their condition after receiving stem cell therapy whilst other patients may experience significant improvements.  

The information, content and links to third party websites and studies contained in this website should not be substituted for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. We recommend consulting with your doctor before making a decision regarding stem cell therapy. Every individual patient and his or her records will be fully evaluated by the Apollo Bramwell Hospital’s Medical Review Board to ascertain the patient’s eligibility for stem cell therapy. Individual consultations are available between you, your doctor and the Apollo Bramwell physicians through the Hospital's telemedicine facilities.

For patients wishing to apply for stem cell therapy now, please fill in our Patient Application Form.