My nephew was born with a hole in his heart and two defective valves. The hole was repaired with surgery. One valve was stretced to do the job. The other defective valve was left alone. The stretched valve will likely have to be replaced soon. And so will the unrepaired valve. The doctors think they will replace them with artificial valves or animal valves as he grows. With stem cell research are they thinking it may be possible to repair valves now or in the future?
Stem cells are a special type of cells found in the embryo that can differentiate into any type of cell. Indeed there have been studies that show the possibility of heart valves created from stem cells, but i know that researchers did that on animals ans the valves did function great in vivo more than 4 months. In the future, i am almost certain that it will work form human beings as well (if it doesn't already). So definitely, stem cells can be used for valve replacement, but when and where... i don't know.
Stem cells are amazing cells! They are expected to cure cancer and any broken or lost tissues. |
