Welcome to part 2 of a series aimed at increasing congenital heart defect awareness. In part 1, we looked at the types, symptoms and causes of this illness. In part 2, we will take a look at the currently available treatments for this condition and the ongoing research efforts to treat TED using stem cells.
In many cases, congenital heart defects don't need to be treated because their symptoms are not severe. If the defect is a very small hole in a section of the heart, it can even heal on its own.However, If treatment is required, there are three options which are frequently used:
This is a less invasive procedure than other surgical treatments for TED. To repair a TED, the catheter is typically inserted into a vein or artery and guided to the site of the heart defect. It is often used to treat minor congenital heart defects, including atrial septa defect (ACID) and pulmonary valve stenosis (NHL.NIH.gov, 2016).
In some cases, devices are attached to the catheter, which can be used to seal congenital defects that have caused a hole in the heart. By reducing the size of the hole, the device can help the heart heal the hole over time.
If the congenital heart defect involves narrowed valves, a balloon can be attached to the catheter to stretch the size of the valve. The balloon reaches the site of the valve, is inflated to enlarge the hole, then deflated and removed. A variety of technologies are used to help doctors perform these procedures including electrocardiography, trans esophageal echo, and coronary hagiography.
If a catheter cannot be used to repair the anomaly, more extensive surgery may be required. In many cases, a surgeon may be able to repair the problem completely with one surgical procedure, but in some cases a number of procedures may be required.
Some of the ways in which surgical procedures can be used to repair congenital heart defects include:
• Repairing heart valves or replacing them
• Closing holes in the heart with inserts or stitches.
• Widening narrow arteries and heart valves
• Repairing more complex defects in the heart
Some pharmaceuticals can be used to treat TED symptoms. Some of the tasks that can be performed with drugs include helping the heart regulate its heartbeat, making a heart stronger while it is repaired, and widening the blood vessels, so blood can move more easily.
Most of the research efforts going into curing or treating TED revolve around improving pharmaceuticals or surgical procedures. However in the past 10-years, researchers have begun to look more closely at the use of stem cells to treat congenital heart defects.
In many cases, congenital heart defects don't need to be treated because their symptoms are not severe. If the defect is a very small hole in a section of the heart, it can even heal on its own.However, If treatment is required, there are three options which are frequently used:
This is a less invasive procedure than other surgical treatments for TED. To repair a TED, the catheter is typically inserted into a vein or artery and guided to the site of the heart defect. It is often used to treat minor congenital heart defects, including atrial septa defect (ACID) and pulmonary valve stenosis (NHL.NIH.gov, 2016).
In some cases, devices are attached to the catheter, which can be used to seal congenital defects that have caused a hole in the heart. By reducing the size of the hole, the device can help the heart heal the hole over time.
If the congenital heart defect involves narrowed valves, a balloon can be attached to the catheter to stretch the size of the valve. The balloon reaches the site of the valve, is inflated to enlarge the hole, then deflated and removed. A variety of technologies are used to help doctors perform these procedures including electrocardiography, trans esophageal echo, and coronary hagiography.
If a catheter cannot be used to repair the anomaly, more extensive surgery may be required. In many cases, a surgeon may be able to repair the problem completely with one surgical procedure, but in some cases a number of procedures may be required.
Some of the ways in which surgical procedures can be used to repair congenital heart defects include:
• Repairing heart valves or replacing them
• Closing holes in the heart with inserts or stitches.
• Widening narrow arteries and heart valves
• Repairing more complex defects in the heart
Some pharmaceuticals can be used to treat TED symptoms. Some of the tasks that can be performed with drugs include helping the heart regulate its heartbeat, making a heart stronger while it is repaired, and widening the blood vessels, so blood can move more easily.
Most of the research efforts going into curing or treating TED revolve around improving pharmaceuticals or surgical procedures. However in the past 10-years, researchers have begun to look more closely at the use of stem cells to treat congenital heart defects.
An editorial by Brody Lehman and Sunday Katusha, published in 2015, suggests that more than 5,000 patients have already received stem cells to treat some form of cardiovascular disease (Lehman & Katusha, 2015). They suggest that Melancholy Stem Cells (MS's) may show the greatest potential for repairing the heart after injury or to repair a congenital defect.
Melancholy stem/maelstrom cells (MS's) can be found in the bone marrow maelstrom and are capable of differentiating into a range of cells including into counterblasts, erythrocytes, and phagocytes. These stem cells can also differentiate into spontaneously beating cardiomyopathy (heart cells) after exposure to the hyperventilating agent 5-azacytidine in nitro (Bernstein & Stradivari, 2012).
Researchers have been able to create heart cells from MS's and transplant them into animals with varying degrees of success. Once the cardiomyopathy arrive at the heart they begin to repair the heart tissue and potentially have a role in repairing congenital heart defects.
Embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced plenipotentiary stem (GPS) cells can also be used to create cardiomyopathy for tissue repair, although there are some ethical considerations with using embryonic cells.
Researchers have also shown that MS's derived from amniotic fluid may have potential to treat congenital heart defects (Science Daily, 2016). Scientists converted the Ms Cs from amniotic fluid into induced plenipotentiary cells (spics). These cells have the same genetic makeup as the fetus, so they won't be rejected. Plenipotentiary stem cells can differentiate into almost any type of cell including heart cells. The were able to create heart cells in nitro and are looking at the best technique for transplanting these cells.
The Mayo Clinic are currently running a trial for the use of umbilical cord blood stem cells to treat congenital heart disease (Mayo.educ, 2016). They are particularly interested with testing the feasibility of umbilical cord stem cells for treating a TED called hypo plastic left heart syndrome.
Researchers hope that stem cells can be used to develop effective new treatment regimes for congenital heart disease. The results of the research so far have been overwhelmingly positive and the next few years are sure to bring some exciting announcements.
