VesCell Adult Stem Cells Helping Pulmonary Hypertension

Dr. Leonel Fernandez Liriano, Professor of Medicine at Pontifical Catholic University School of Medicine (PCUSM) and Dr. Zannos Grekos announced they have the 9 month follow up results of the first patient treated with VesCell Adult Stem Cell therapy for Pulmonary Hypertension.

The first patient, Karl Wagner, underwent the procedure in February, 2008. Since that time, his Pulmonary Artery Mean Pressure has dropped from 41 mmHg (severe pulmonary hypertension) to 24 mmHg (normal). Wagner's saturations are now consistently high, and he no longer needs to be supplemented with oxygen or considered for a lung transplant.

Even more importantly, Karl Wagner is living his life again,

"I feel great," he says, "and have a normal life again. I take my girls to school every morning and work all day...my quality of life is ten-fold what it used to be. I also am off almost all of my medications and the doctors at Mayo Clinic have given me a new prognosis."

Dr. Grekos explained how it worked,

"Using advanced engineered stem cell technology and innovative delivery methods, we've been able to harness the regenerative power of stem cells and literally replace the damaged blood vessels in the lungs of the pulmonary hypertension patients."

And from Dr. Athina Kyritsis,

"In treating diseases like Cardiomyopathy and Peripheral Vascular Disease, we've had consistent success in generating viable heart tissue and growing new vessels; with the increased circulation, healing of wounds, and improvement in ejection fractions, it seemed a natural progression to approach pulmonary hypertension in the same manner. I believe we have only begun to discover what Adult Stem Cells can accomplish in altering the course of diseases now thought to be untreatable."

Other patients treated since Karl Wagner have had similar results. Chalk Pulmonary Hypertension up as yet another disease that VesCell Adult Stem Cells can help.

A Stem Cell First- New Organ Created and Transplanted Using Adult Stem Cells

Let me explain that as I know the title can be confusing. Claudia Castillo, a woman in Barcelona was suffering from Tuberculosis. The tuberculosis had made the tube connecting her windpipe (trachea)to collapse and it was slowly sinking into her lung. She was facing the removal of her lung. The trachea needed to be replaced.

What to do? Grow a new trachea of course! Claudia has become the first person in the world to receive a new organ grown from her own stem cells.

I bet you are asking- how did they do this? Here's how:

1. Adult Stem Cells were extracted from Claudia's bone marrow and then grown into cartilage in the lab.
2. A part of a windpipe taken from a donor (deceased) was cleaned of all cells so it wouldn't be rejected by Claudia.
3. That piece was used as a scaffold or model and the stem cells were grown around it, thus creating a new windpipe comprised of Claudia's own cells!
4. The new organ was transplanted back into Claudia who is already out of the hospital and living a normal life.

This was a total team effort. The operation took place in Barcelona, the University of Bristol in England grew the cartilage cells from the stem cells, and researchers in Italy using a special machine took those new cells and fitted them around the scaffold.

This is amazing. Since the organ was grown from her own cells, she will NOT have to take immune-suppressing drugs to deal with organ rejection.

This is just the beginning of something wonderful. All the proponents of embryonic stem cell research say that Adult Stem Cells aren't as "versatile" or "flexible" and not having as much "potential" as Embryonic Stem Cells. However, what we just saw here is Adult Stem Cells taken from the bone marrow and then multiplied and grown and changed into cartilage cells (See this great story too) to make a perfectly matching windpipe. I think that is pretty "versatile."

And because it is using Adult Stem Cells, it sidesteps any ethical/moral debates. This is the future of surgery. Hopefully someday soon, researchers will be able to do this with other organs as well. A heart? Liver? Why not? The sky is the limit with Adult Stem Cells.

The Process of Stem Cells

People often ask "What is VesCell adult stem cell therapy? " How is it different than other stem cell therapies or procedures. The difference is in the process of stem cells.

While most stem cell companies or stem cell trials will extract adult stem cells from the bone marrow in what can be a painful and even dangerous procedure (especially in a heart patient) requiring anesthesia. Our VesCell technique is unique in that the source of the stem cells is the patient's own blood.

250 cc of a patient's blood is drawn from their arm, just like a blood donation. That blood is then sent to the TheraVitae lab in Israel where they separate the stem cells from the blood and then culture the stem cells into millions in a process that lasts 5 days.

These stem cells can then be implanted into the patient's heart or arteries to repair damage as well as help vascularize the region, enabling more blood flow in that particular area. VesCell adult stem cell therapy can be used to treat heart disease and peripheral artery disease patients.