CARDIOLOGY & HEART SURGERY
Stem Cells Harvested,
Stem Cells Returned
Maria Libretti got the diagnosis at her 20-week
ultrasound: Her baby, Calista, had hypoplastic
left heart syndrome, or HLHS. As an emergency
department nurse in Greeley, Colo., Maria had an
idea of what that meant. What she didn’t know, she
got right to work finding out. It didn’t take her long
to hone in on stem cells.
Kids with HLHS face a grim prognosis.
The right ventricle, normally responsible
only for pulmonary circulation, has to pump
blood through the entire body on its own. And
the trifecta of surgeries that reconfigure the
circulation to make that possible, while life-
saving, don’t happen without scarring. Scarring,
in turn, further weakens the myocardium.
Clinic-led, multi-institutional group now
harvesting patients’ own umbilical cells at
birth to inject back into their hearts during
staged reconstruction. Through such injections,
cardiothoracic surgeons like Dr. Jaggers hope
to minimize scarring and promote regeneration
in areas affected by surgery — maybe even
strengthen the right ventricle and help it function
like the left.
“The important thing is the power of multiple
heart programs all working toward the same goal,”
says Dr. Jaggers.
Calista was the first patient to participate at
Children’s Colorado.
We don’t know yet if we can make kids with single ventricle
disease live longer, but we think heart function can be improved
by the injection of stem cells.”
JA M E S JA G G E R S , M D
Chief, Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
Calista Libretti had her umbilical stem cells
harvested at birth. When she had her Glenn
procedure, the second of three reconstructive
operations, surgeons injected them into her heart.
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“We don’t know yet if we can make kids with single
ventricle disease live longer, but we think heart
function can be improved by the injection of stem
cells,” says James Jaggers, MD, Chief of Pediatric
Cardiothoracic Surgery at Children’s Colorado. “We had the entire team present at Calista’s
delivery for a seamless transition to neonatology,”
says Michael Zaretsky, MD, Medical Director of the
Colorado Fetal Care Center. “Our fetal cardiology
team harvested the cord blood.”
Stem cells don’t survive in myocardial tissue, but
they do secrete substances that can attract other
cells to strengthen and possibly replace damaged
heart muscle cells. Calista got some of it back during her Glenn
procedure last year. For now, there’s no way to
know if it will help. But it’s an important first step.
That research, and research like it, drives the
mission of the HLHS Consortium, a Mayo
“If it doesn’t help Calista,” says Maria, “I hope this
work will help other kids down the road.” ●
NEW CONSTELLATIONS
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