"An experimental therapy involving stem cell https injections from the patients own blood https is showing promise in the treatment of people with chest pain https that is not responsive to drugs angioplasty https or surgery. Results from a pivotal study of the treatment were reported today in the American Heart https Association AHA journal Circulation Research. Patients with untreatable angina https who received the injections of CD stem cells https in key areas of the heart had significantly fewer chest pain episodes and significantly better performance on exercise https tests than patients who got placebo https injections. Treating Angina Drugs angioplasty https and coronary artery bypass graft https CABG surgery are the main treatments for angina  chest pain caused by blocked coronary arteries https About  Americans have angina that persists despite available treatments. These are patients who have been on drugs and may have had multiple angioplasties or CABG surgeries AHA President Gordon Tomaselli MD tells WebMD. Their activities are severely restricted by their chest pain and right now we have little to offer them. The new treatment came from the discovery about a decade ago that CD stem cells stimulate the formation of new blood https vessels study researcher Douglas W. Losordo MD of Chicagos Northwestern University tells WebMD. Coronary artery disease https involves not only the blockage of major arteries but the death of small vessels or capillaries of the heart muscle he says. This treatment targets these small vessels that have been damaged. The stem cells have shown the ability to repair and replace them in animal models. The approach also showed promise in a  pilot study involving fewer than  patients. The newly reported study included  patients with severe angina treated at  medical centers across the country. Chest Pain Relief Study participants received one of three treatments lowdose CD injections highdose injections or placebo. Patients were given a drug for several days to increase the number of CD stem cells in the blood. Blood was collected and processed to collect the stem cells and then using a catheter threaded into the heart the researchers injected the CD cells into areas of the muscle that had been identified as oxygendeprived areas. The patients received  such injections during a single catheterization procedure. Among the major findings  Six months after the procedure patients treated with the stem cells had an average of seven attacks of angina a week compared to close to  in the placebo group.  At  months the lowdose stem cell patients were having around six chest pain episodes a week compared to  in the placebotreated patients.  Exercise https tolerance test scores were also better in the stemcelltreated patients. The lowdose stem cell patients had improvements of  seconds compared to  seconds in the placebotreated patients.  Patients in both active treatment portions of the study used less nitroglycerin https to treat angina attacks than patients in the placebo group but the difference was small. About one in three patients had elevations of a cardiac enzyme that is associated with heart attacks https While the elevations did not appear to be clinically significant Losordo says the researchers will continue to closely monitor cardiac enzymes https_assetscontrolled_contenthealthwisemedicaltestcardiac_enzyme_studies_medicaltest_hw.xml in patients who receive the treatment. Improvements in Quality of Life Losordo says the improvements in the stemcelltreated patients were life altering for many patients. To put it in human terms patients who might have been able to sit and watch TV without symptoms could now walk at a normal pace without chest pain and someone who could walk at a slow pace might be able to ride a bike he says. The study was funded by Illinoisbased medical device manufacturer Baxter Healthcare https which hopes to market the machine that collects the stem cells. A phase III study expected to involve around  medical centers in the U.S. is in the planning stages. There is an emerging notion that our bodies  even the bodies of patients with significant disease  contain this natural biology that can heal Losordo says. We are just beginning to understand and exploit this preinstalled mechanism for selfrepair. Tomaselli says the study shows that the approach is both safe and feasible in patients with significant coronary disease. The results are pretty undeniable he says. The stem cell treated patients had improvements in angina frequency and improvements in exertion times. The next step is to prove the treatment is clinically useful."