A process where a heart patient can donate some of his own stem cells in an attempt to find a solution for severe blockages is being tried at a Northshore hospital where a local doctor is one of only three in the country to try the procedure.

Dr. Gabriel Lasala, an interventional cardiologist with Lakeview Regional Medical Center in Covington is trying the procedure on a 64-year-old heart patient who has had several heart attacks and corrective procedures that included open heart surgery.

Bill Edgett has had severe health problems recently including double pneumonia, liver and kidney failure and a ruptured bowel that prevent him from undergoing another surgery.

Dr. Lasala, with the help of cell biologist Jose’ Minguell is attempting to use some of Edgett’s own stem cells to fix the problem without surgery.

Dr. Minguell took bone marrow from Edgett’s hip and isolated about 1,500 stem cells that he grew into nearly 15 million cells over a period of 19 days. The cells will be placed near Edgett’s heart through a catheter that will go into his leg and thread up into the area of the blockage. The idea is that the cells will help new arteries grow near the heart and that those arteries will bypass the blockages.

“We have done this in patients who have problems with the legs where they have very poor circulation and we have injected stem cells in them and we have found a significant increase in the circulation of the leg,” said Lasala.

Minguell said he sees a time soon where people will use their own cells to fix health problems in their bodies.

“The patient has the opportunity or the source to get a lot of cells to repair what is wrong due to age, due to disease or an accident or anything,” he said.

Lasala says that with 20 million Americans having severe coronary artery disease, the need for an alternative to invasive procedures is great.

Edgett says he is just grateful that this option is open to him.

“I am so thankful that I was in the right spot at the right time to be able to have a chance to have this procedure done because I don't think there were very many options left for me.”

If you have heart disease but can’t have any of the current procedures or surgery you may qualify to be in this study group. You can call 985-867-4860 for more information.