Don Ho goes in for stem cell heart therapy
Related News: Heart / Cardio News, Stem Cell ResearchWell known (at least to those of us old enough to know -- blushes) Hawaiian singer Don Ho was just released from a Bangkok hospital Thursday after undergoing an experimental heart procedure.
Ho has had his own stem cells injected into his heart Monday night, which is expected to improve the muscle's pumping ability by as much as 70 percent.
Ho has been suffering from cardiomyopathy and his doctor stated that conventional surgery could do nothing to ease the inflammation.
This procedure, which is not currently available in the US, was performed by former University of Michigan cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Kit Arom and overseen by Dr. Amit Patel of Pittsburgh.
Arom left U of M a few years back to care for the king of Thailand.
Ho is expected to return to Hawaii within the next two weeks.
Posted on December 8, 2005 11:48 PM