British Doctors Save Baby's Life In 'World-First' Repairing Of Heart Using Placenta Stem Cells

A cardiac surgeon claims to have performed a "world-first" operation utilising stem cells from placentas to repair a baby's failing heart in what may be the world's first surgery of its type.

According to a Telegraph report, after unsuccessful attempts to realign his heart's two main arteries, doctors gave a baby named Finley from Corsham, Wiltshire, an injection of umbilical cord stem cells in 2020. Finley is now a healthy 2-year-old, and researchers have improved the method to make stem cell plasters that might be sewn over holes in the heart or anomalies in blood vessels and valves. It would imply that kids with congenital cardiac defects wouldn't require as many open-heart surgeries.

Bristol Heart Institute Professor Dr. Massimo Caputo has created stem cell plasters that could mean children won't need to go through multiple open-heart operations in the future.

According to the British Heart Foundation, Finley, age 2, from Corsham, Wiltshire, was the first baby in the world with a congenital heart defect to receive a particular type of stem cell injection treatment to try and keep his heart pumping. Finley was born with a congenital heart defect called transposition of the great arteries, where the two main arteries supplying blood to the lungs and body are in the wrong positions.

At just four days old, he had his first open-heart surgery to switch the major arteries back to their normal position.

Finley's mother, Melissa Hudd, explained: "Everything happened so quickly after giving birth. It was such a shock to find out that Finley had a heart condition and that he needed open-heart surgery."

"When he was born, I was only able to hold his hand for seconds through the incubator before he was whisked away to the ambulance."

"We were told to prepare from the start that the odds of him surviving without urgent surgery were not good and that the operation would be around 4 to 6 hours. After a long 12 hours, Finley finally came out of surgery but he was reliant on a machine that took over the function of his heart and lungs."