Myocardial infarction, more commonly known as heart attack, is a heart ailment that results when an area of heart muscle is damaged because of an inadequate supply of oxygen to that area. It is estimated that in US alone, approximately 1 million patients visit the hospital each year with a heart attack. A large number of cases do not even reach the hospital or remain undiagnosed.

In a clinical study published this week in Lancet, doctors from the Catholic University of Leuven and Stem Cell Institute Leuven found out that in patients with acute myocardial infarction, the administration of the patient's bone marrow stem cells reduces of the size of infarct and correlates with a better preserved regional left ventricle function. Authors however caution that "It is still much too early to conclude that every patient with a myocardial infarction should be treated with stem cells."

Source: VIB, Flanders Interuniversity Institute of Biotechnology (pdf file)

Supplemental Reading: A dissertation on "Embryonic stem cells for myocardial infarct repair" is also available for download via Amazon.