Muscle patch made from stem cells could treat heart failure

A muscle patch crafted from stem cells has improved cardiac function in monkeys with heart disease. It is now being tested in a small number of people, with early results from the first recipient suggesting it could treat advanced heart failure.

Heart failure – when the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands – usually occurs after a heart attack permanently damages or weakens the organ. Short of receiving a transplant or fitting a pump, no treatment can fully restore cardiac function, only slow its decline.…