"Stem Cell Therapies" for Heart Disease… What Are the Benefits?

Mr. Kim (74), who had been suffering from hypertension and diabetes for 17 years, visited the emergency room at a university hospital in 2016 after experiencing chest pain. He underwent an emergency coronary angiography (a procedure in which a thin tube is inserted into a blood vessel and guided to the coronary arteries, where a contrast agent is injected to take images) and had a stent implanted. However, due to severe damage to his heart muscle, he continued to experience recurrent symptoms of heart failure. Heart failure refers to various heart conditions that arise when the heart’s pumping function declines. Ultimately, on the recommendation of his attending physician, Mr. Kim underwent a procedure at a hospital specializing in stem cell therapy to have a stem cell therapy agent injected into his coronary arteries. Starting on the third day after the procedure, the swelling in his legs subsided, and his shortness of breath during physical activity improved. As his heart’s pumping function gradually improved, Mr. Kim is now living his daily life without any problems.

Heart failure is the final stage of various heart diseases, such as acute myocardial infarction (blockage of a coronary artery) and angina pectoris (narrowing of a coronary artery). According to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of heart failure in South Korea nearly doubled, rising from 0.75% in 2002 to 1.53% in 2013. The prevalence is projected to continue rising, reaching 3.35% by 2040. The current number of patients is approximately 650,000.

Patients with chronic heart failure experience a significant decline in their quality of life. Not only do they have to take medication for the rest of their lives, but they also suffer from symptoms such as shortness of breath, and the mortality rate is high. Dr. Kim Hyun-soo, director of the Kim Hyun-soo Clinic, stated, “The high mortality rate among heart failure patients is caused by damage to heart cells.” He added, “During periods of blocked blood flow, the heart muscle is deprived of blood, causing cells to die and preventing the heart from functioning properly. The problem is that once damaged, heart muscle does not regenerate.” 

Stem Cell Therapies: Regenerating Damaged Heart Tissue and Restoring Function

Stem cell therapies are being used in clinical practice to fundamentally treat heart disease. Director Kim Hyun-soo said, “The efficacy of stem cell therapy in enhancing cardiac function has been reported in systematic reviews and meta-analyses of numerous papers, and in the case of the domestic stem cell therapy ‘Cellgram-AMI,’ clinical trials have proven that cardiac function improves through the stem cell therapy alone.” It is reported that stem cell therapy improves the heart’s pumping capacity by approximately 12%. Director Kim Hyun-soo said, “For heart failure patients, even a slight improvement in heart function significantly enhances their quality of life,” adding, “Patients with mild heart failure who receive stem cell therapy show symptom improvement, while those with severe heart failure are able to maintain proper heart function at least until a heart transplant becomes possible.”

Furthermore, Director Kim Hyun-soo stated, “Although stem cell therapy has not yet been established as a standard of care in clinical practice, it has clearly provided a fundamental treatment for conditions that previously had no therapeutic alternatives,” adding, “Patients suffering from severe heart disease should actively consider stem cell therapy.”