See the Stem Cell Treatment Process with Your Own Eyes!

The heart disease treatment process using stem cells has been captured on a cutting-edge medical video device.

Though there were various clinical reports that stem cells were used to provide treatment for incurable diseases, this is the first time that a scene showing how stem cells react in the area of the damaged organ has been captured on screen.

Professor Lee Dong-soo (48) and Professor Kang Won-joon (37) of the nuclear medicine department, and Professor Kim Hyo-soo (46) of the internal medicine department at Seoul National University Medical School revealed on June 21, “After transplanting stem cells in 18 patients with ischemic heart disease, we succeeded in recording the treatment process with medical equipment.”

Ischemic heart disease refers to angina pectoris or acute myocardial infarction which occurs when the blood and oxygen supply is cut off because the blood vessels to the heart get narrower. The research team first extracted hematopoietic stem cells, a type of stem cell, from the bone marrow of ten patients.

Hematopoietic stem cells can develop into not only blood cells, like red or white corpuscles, but also blood vessels. Thus, when transplanted into the patient, it is expected that they will facilitate blood flow by stimulating blood vessel development. The research team transplanted stem cells through a small tube in the heart area and then recorded the treatment.

wolfkim@donga.com