Patients are looking for alternative to invasive heart surgery, and a new study has shown promising results for 3D printed 'mini-hearts'Canberran Elle Pendrick has had five open-heart surgeries already in her life due to her heart condition, which can impede her life for six months at a time.
Born in Wagga Wagga, in the New South Wales Riverina, she had to be air-lifted to Sydney to have her first major heart surgery at just three days old – it would be another three, long, exhausting days before she could be cuddled by her own mother. While the Canberra woman has learnt how to better prepare for the unavoidable, complicated surgery, there's been promising news about a less invasive option.
Lead researcher Dr Carmine Gentile has created what he calls "mini hearts", a 3D printed patch using a patient's own stem cells, which can be placed over damaged areas of a person's heart. Dr Gentile said he needs more funding to take the technology from "bench to bedside" in clinical trials, to hopefully offer a safer alternative to major heart surgeries, and heart transplants.
Dr Gentile said more than 10,000 Australians are diagnosed with heart failure every year, but only about 120 hearts on average become available for those on the heart transplant waiting list.Cardiology professor and director of the Victorian Heart Hospital Steve Nicholls was not involved in the study, but said the research advancement was "quite intriguing".
"I think it just goes to show another example of where Australia is leading in the way of heart research. It's the leading cause of death in this country, we need better solutions, and here you see one small step today towards improving heart outcomes in the future."Rowena went to bed exceptionally tired. In the middle of the night, she woke to her heart fluttering