A new stem cell therapy for heart failure is being tested in patients at the University of Louisville and UofL Health. The trial is the first in the U.S.
to test umbilical cord-derived stem cells in patients for heart failure and the first to use intravenous (IV) delivery of cell therapy for heart failure. It is the first trial in the world to test multiple doses of stem cell therapy for chronic heart failure. Roberto Bolli, UofL professor of medicine, director of the UofL Institute of Molecular Cardiology and a UofL Health cardiologist, leads the study, which is enrolling patient participants at UofL, the University of Miami and the Texas Heart Institute.
UofL Health is the only health system in Kentucky providing cell therapies for heart failure as part of clinical trials. The Phase II clinical trial, dubbed the CATO trial, involves patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy , those who have had a heart attack resulting in scarring and heart failure. An $8 million grant to UofL from the Department of Defense is funding the four-year, multicenter trial, which aims to determine whether one or multiple doses of stem cells improve health and quality of life for heart failure patients.
If these cells are shown to be effective, the implications would be enormous. They would have significant potential to improve quality of life for heart failure patients and result in a paradigm shift in the treatment of heart failure." Roberto Bolli, UofL professor of medicine, director of the UofL In.