A hospital in Japan has performed the world’s first surgery using commercially available heart muscle cell sheets derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), marking a major step in regenerative heart treatment.
The procedure was carried out this month at Osaka Keisatsu Hospital in Osaka. A woman in her 50s with severe heart failure received the cell sheet during an operation that lasted about an hour. The hospital said the procedure was completed successfully and the patient was stable afterwards.
The treatment, known as RiHeart, involves growing heart muscle cells from iPS cells into a sheet and placing it on the surface of the heart. The treatment is intended for patients with severe heart failure caused by ischaemic heart disease, where narrowed or blocked arteries reduce blood flow to the heart.
The surgery was the first clinical use of the product after Japan granted it conditional approval in March and introduced public health insurance coverage in September. Japanese authorities plan to collect data over seven years before deciding on full approval.
Surgeon Yoshiki Sawa, who helped develop the treatment, said the procedure could provide another option for patients with severe heart disease.
“Our hope is that this will improve the patient’s quality of life,” Sawa said.
Earlier clinical trials involving eight patients found that all experienced reduced symptoms, while some also showed improvements in heart function and exercise capacity.
Sawa developed the technology with researchers including Nobel Prize-winning scientist Shinya Yamanaka, whose work on iPS cells helped establish a way of reprogramming mature cells into a stem-cell-like state.
The treatment is aimed primarily at patients who have exhausted other treatment options. Its developers plan to perform the procedure on about 75 patients by 2033 as they gather further evidence on its safety and effectiveness.
Japan has also conditionally approved another iPS-cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease, highlighting the country’s expanding use of regenerative medicine.
