Restoring AV conduction through stem cells

Hello everyone, my name is Rhett Burgess and I am 21 years old. I have now 6 heart surgeries due to AV damage in a cardiac ablation 4 years ago. I received a pacemaker. I had what called pacemaker induced cardiomyopathy (PICM) a year and a half after receiving the pacemaker. My ejection fraction dropped from 65% to 38%. I felt tired and could tell something was up. I then had to get a upgrade to bundle of his pacing. The thought of replacements in the years to come and being restricted and the mental anxiety has just been to much. Stem cells have shown nothing but promise for heart patients and people like us with heart block. I will have a procudure this summer we're I will have Mesychemal (MSC for short) stem cells injected directly into the site of block. This block is scar tissue distributing my AV node, well when you research the effects of Mesychemal stem cells on scar tissue, it reduces it tremendously. The effects have been so great that patients with low ejection fractions from 20 have had it come up to 45+. Stem cells have "CURED" people with heart failure. This has shown promising results in people with heart block. This procudure is expensive but I want an alternative to a pacemaker. There has been little to no side effects of MSCs, so I will have this procudure done this summer. I will attach my GoFundMe and hope you all can help out by at least sharing or praying for me. After the procudure I will update you all. We are all in this together!! God bless.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/repairing-rhetts-heart?sharetype=teams&member=8103896&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&rcid=4ab7f5a933be497a9e5743817c02b80a

2 Comments

wow

by Tracey_E - 2021-01-18 18:00:27

That's exciting!!! Please keep us updated. 

I wonder if this works when the av block is not caused by scar tissue?

One thought, I was you once upon a time. I'm 54 now and on my 5th pacer. It's really not a big deal. I used to think it would take over my life and be awful, but it really is not. I truly hope stem cell works for you! But if it doesn't, please don't stress over living with a pacer long term. It affects me one day a year when I go for check ups, a few days every 10 years or so when the battery goes. The rest of the time, I live my life. 

Mesenchymal Cell Therapy

by Selwyn - 2021-01-19 06:48:49

We all wish you a good outcome.

If you want to read about mesenchymal cell therapy and hearts,

https://biotuesdays.com/2020/09/15/biocardia-developing-autologous-and-allogenic-cardiovascular-cell-therapies/

~there are no long term studies as this is a new therapy. 

I know that we looked at this therapy for cartilage replacement in some professional footballers. It is out of reach for most people in the UK. The NHS has just licensed CAR-T for cancer therapy  in the UK. Cell therapy has certainly come of age. We can only hope that as it becomes more widespread the cost will come down. 

 

 

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Member Quotes

I'm 35 and got my pacemaker a little over a year ago. It definitely is not a burden to me. In fact, I have more energy (which my husband enjoys), can do more things with my kids and have weight because of having the energy.