NEW YORK, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- NEWS: FDA APPROVES RESEARCH TO REGROW DAMAGED HEART MUSCLE CELLS.
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STORY SUMMARY:
Despite optimal medical therapy, 500,000 patients die per year in the United States of congestive heart failure. While heart transplants are an acceptable standard of therapy, there are only twenty-four hundred available to donors annually. The Arizona Heart Institute and Hospital (http://www.azheart.com/) will conduct a medical first this fall -- researchers expect to grow new heart muscle by transplanting a patient’s own skeletal muscle cells from the leg, directly into damaged hearts via catheter using a 3D guidance technology. The American Heart Association calls the Myoblast Transplantation Study one of the top research advances of the decade.
A media conference announcing FDA approval of Myoblast Transplantation will be held at the Arizona Heart Hospital, 1930 E. Thomas, Wednesday September 22 at 10:00 AM. The first patient to undergo this historical procedure will share his story. Researchers hope catheter-based myoblast cell transplantation will repair hearts through injection of the body’s own skeletal muscle cells without having to perform open chest surgery. Arizona Heart Institute and Arizona Heart Hospital are the only research centers in the United States to receive FDA approval to begin human testing of skeletal muscle cell transplantation to the heart using a 3D guidance technology via catheter.
**Arizona Heart Institute and Arizona Heart Hospital are seeking potential candidates for this leading-edge technology. Patients interested in qualifying for the myoblast transplantation can call 1-877-707-3535 or visit http://www.azheart.com**/
SOUNDBITES: * Dr. Edward Dietrich, Founder and Medical Director, Arizona Heart Institute * Dr. Nabil Dib, principal investigator of the study and Chief of Cardiovascular Research at Arizona Heart Institute and Heart Hospital. * John Andrus, patient
B-ROLL INCLUDES: **Physician and Patient Footage**Operating room footage**Cell transplantation footage and animation***Research lab footage**
VIDEO PROVIDED BY: The Arizona Heart Institute and Hospital
Video: http://www.prnewswire.com/broadcast/20337/consumer.shtmlThe Arizona Heart Institute and Hospital
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