Japanese Patient Recovering Well After iPS Stem-Cell Heart Muscle Sheet Transplant

A female patient treated for severe heart failure with a transplant of a heart muscle sheet derived from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells is making positive progress in her recovery and is expected to leave hospital this week, according to an announcement from her medical team on Wednesday.

The doctors said the patient has been closely monitored since the surgery and is currently in a stable condition. Her discharge this week is seen as an early sign that the treatment has gone smoothly.

The procedure used a heart muscle sheet cultured from iPS cells — a line of biomedical research that Japan has high hopes for in the treatment of chronic heart disease. The medical team has not released further details about the patient's specific condition or about long-term follow-up plans after her discharge.