Hospital first to use utilize novel stem cell therapy (2/24/2008)

University Hospitals Case Medical Center's Heart & Vascular Institute is the first hospital in Northeast Ohio to use the NOGA XP Cardiac Navigation System to inject a patient's own stem cells into his/her heart to treat angina. The innovative cardiac mapping system allows physicians to deliver the stem cell therapy into damaged areas of the heart with pinpoint accuracy.

The NOGA XP system, made by Biologics Delivery System of Cordis/Johnson & Johnson, records electrical and mechanical signals during a catheterization procedure and generates a highly precise, three-dimensional image of the heart. Based on color-coded images, the University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) team is able to determine the optimal areas to deliver stem cell injections into the patient's heart to generate growth of new blood vessels to alleviate angina.

Daniel I. Simon, MD, Director of the Heart & Vascular Institute and Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine at UHCMC, and Marco A. Costa, MD, PhD, Director of Invasive Services and Director of the Center for Research & Innovation at UHCMC, are conducting a clinical trial employing this new system.

"Stem cells are more likely to be effective if targeted where they are needed the most," said Dr. Simon, who is also the Herman K. Hellerstein Professor of Cardiovascular Research at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. "With this system, we can accurately-within a millimeter-pinpoint where the stem cell injections could be most beneficial in improving blood flow. This is the next generation of cardiac therapy and we are excited to be the first to offer this to our patients."

"To deliver the cells, you need targeted injections in the heart because you don't have many of these stem cells available and you need to inject them where they need to grow and proliferate," Dr. Costa, who is also a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, said. "This mapping system really allows us to repair heart damage in an entirely different way that we hope can benefit many patients to come."

The Cleveland-based National Center for Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) is pivotal in providing the necessary infrastructure, including the NOGA XP, to treat heart patients with stem cells. NCRM, which includes researchers from UHCMC and Case Western Reserve University, is assisting in the mobilization and harvesting of the stem cells prior to the procedure.

Debra Grega, Executive Director of NCRM, is optimistic that cardiovascular stem cell trials are likely to lead to FDA-approved therapies in the future. "This is one of a series of pioneering clinical studies that we will conduct this year," Grega said. "We are participating in innovative and cutting-edge research to develop experimental therapies that will one day improve the lives of many patients with severe coronary artery disease that have failed conventional treatments with bypass surgery or angioplasty."

The NOGA XP System is currently being used to map the heart for various therapies in more than 17 clinical studies worldwide.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University Hospitals

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