Stem cell therapy for cardiovascular disorders - our clinical experience.

BACKGROUND: Autologous Bone Marrow stem Cell transplantation is a viable therapeutic option for patients with end stage heart failure due to cardiomyopathy of varied etiology as there are only limited treatment options other than cardiac transplantation. The rationale behind the application of stem cells in these patients include Stem cells directly replace the affected cells by differentiation into the damaged cell typeStem cells also exert Paracrine effects by secretion of growth factors (VGEF,FGF-1)to stimulate local cell growthIn addition to the above, stem cells release signaling factors which recruit stem cells from elsewhere by modulating the immune system. MATERIALS & METHODS: In this presentation we describe our study on a series of 13 patients who received isolated and expanded CD 34 cells from the bone marrow. Seven had ischemic dysfunction, three had dilated cardiomyopathy and three had primary pulmonary hypertension. Five patients received the stem cells via intracoronary injection, three directly into the myocardium and three intrapulmonary. RESULTS: All patients showed functional improvement of the myocardium recorded by non-invasive investigations and improvement in the quality of life. Follow up period ranged from 6 months to 2 years. CONCLUSION: Our experience with bone marrow derived stem cells in patients with cardiomyopathy has been encouraging. More studies are planned in the future.

Rare earth doped zinc oxide nanowires.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires were grown via thermal transport and subsequently doped with different concentrations of Tm, Yb, and Eu using ion implantation and post annealing. High ion fluences lead to morphology changes due to sputtering; however, freestanding nanowires become less damaged compared to those attached to substrates. No other phases like rare earth (RE) oxides were detected, no amorphization occurs in any sample, and homogeneous doping with the desired concentrations was achieved. Photoluminescence measurements demonstrate the optical activation of trivalent RE-elements and the emission of the characteristic intra-4f-luminescence of the respective RE atoms, which could be assigned according to the Dieke-diagram. An increasing RE concentration results into decreasing luminescence intensity caused by energy transfer mechanisms to non-radiative remaining implantation defect sites. Furthermore, low thermal quenching was observed due to the considerable wide band gap of ZnO.

Coxsackie viral myocarditis: a clinical and echocardiographic study.

Thirty two patients with acute onset of cardiac symptoms following an episode suggestive of viral infection, were studied. 11 patients had Coxsackie viral myocarditis. All had 4 fold rise of neutralising Coxsackie viral antibody titres on paired sera tested. Coxsackie B virus types 2 and 4 were commonly detected. Among the eleven patients, 8 presented with congestive heart failure, 2 with ventricular arrhythmias and one with chest pain and S3 gallop. All had ECG changes. Echocardiographic examination showed global left ventricular dysfunction in 7, regional wall motion abnormalities in 2 and normal left ventricular function in one. Serial echocardiographic examination showed progressive myocardial dysfunction in 3 and improvement in myocardial function in two patients. Two patients died during the follow up period. Echocardiography helped in assessing the course of patients with viral myocarditis.