The world's first cardiac surgery using slices of heart muscle cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) was performed at a hospital in Japan. The procedure was carried out on a 50-year-old patient suffering from severe heart failure.
A team led by surgeon Yoshiki Sawa implanted three slices of cardiomyocytes into the patient's heart. This therapy received conditional approval from the Japanese government in March and was developed for individuals for whom other treatment options have been exhausted.
The operation lasted about an hour and took place at Osaka Keisatsu Hospital. Cardiomyocytes are cells that form heart muscle, allowing the heart to contract with each beat to pump blood throughout the body. In this treatment, these cells are produced from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).
iPS cells are obtained by reprogramming specialized adult cells, which revert to a state similar to that of young cells. Based on these cells, researchers can produce various types of cells, including the cardiomyocytes used in therapy.
The technology was developed by Sawa in collaboration with scientist Shinya Yamanaka, the 2012 Nobel laureate for his research on iPS cells. The goal is to improve heart muscle function, which in turn contributes to enhancing the heart's performance and the individual's physical activity capacity.
After the operation, Sawa expressed hope regarding the patient's condition: 'We hope this will improve the patient's quality of life.' Conditional approval for the therapy was granted after trials on eight patients with ischemic heart disease caused by coronary artery narrowing. All of them showed reduced symptoms, and four patients also demonstrated improved heart function.
The initial results explain the team's intention to expand the number of procedures. Similar operations are planned for 75 patients by 2033 to track outcomes and assess the efficacy and safety of the method.
For this new phase, certain aspects are particularly important: it is expected that the therapy will receive final authorization after its benefits and safety have been proven over the next seven years. Furthermore, Japan granted conditional approval in March for another iPS-based treatment, this time for Parkinson's disease, where transplanted cells are used in the brain.
The cardiac surgery marks a new stage in the clinical application of this regenerative technology in the country. Future procedures should provide more information about the safety and effects of the treatment.