Heart attacks within months of each other now

[pam222445]

My son in law had a triple bypass surgery about 5 years ago.  Since then he has taken five heart attacks which the doctor replaced stents. He is now in Boston with another.  I viewed a program where the doctors used a placenter to grow body parts such as an ear.  Could the doctor use placenter to grow new heart valves/arteries?  Is there any new medical help at this point other than needing a heart replacement.  He has been told that he has tiny arteries.

Thank you

[ed34]

That kind of therapy is not readily available yet. New hearts can be grown using cells from our own body, reprogrammed to become whatever the lab tells it. Complete working rabbit/mice hearts have been grown in a lab, but I don't think human ones have yet. However, I believe they will be in the next ten years. This kind of research takes a long time because they have to see how the hearts behave relatively long term. There would be a lot of upset if people received new hearts, their old ones were 'binned' and the new ones turned cancerous after a few years. Things are looking promising though, and we know rejection will not be an issue which is why most transplants fail.
I spoke to my Cardiologist last year regarding stem cell research to grow new coronary arteries, but he explained that this technology is not yet working. There are a few clinics who 'claim' they have cracked it and charge a fortune. However, you sign a paper to say you accept the possibility that it won't work. Of course, the procedure never works.
The growing hearts in a lab is the best hope, you get a brand new heart and arteries.
I would assume that all possible medication to help his situation has been prescribed. If it does eventually come to a transplant option, statistics these days are much better than they used to be. If someone is transplanted today, their chance to survive the first year is 88%, three years is 79% and five years is 73%. A man who lives in my road had a transplant 11 years ago and is still going strong. He is travelling the world and living life to the full. His only problem in 11 years was a 'fit' which lasted about two minutes.
Much more is understood now about rejection and ways to combat it. Rather than keep suffering heart attacks and having more surgery, maybe this would be the best solution and give him a much better quality of life. I know the thought of it is scary but talking to transplant patients is an eye opener.