DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): And up next, big medical news.
DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(VO): Nearly 6 million Americans have heart failure.
DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): But today, the word we've longed to hear, a medical breakthrough that unleashes the power of our own stem cells, word that stem cells can reverse heart damage, even re-create a healthy heart. Here's ABC's health and medical editor, Dr Richard Besser.
DOCTOR RICHARD BESSER (ABC NEWS)(VO): A heart that can heal itself, a dream of medicine that may now be closer to reality. Two years ago, Mike Jones' heart muscle was dying, damaged by a massive heart attack. He couldn't even climb a flight of stairs. Now...
MIKE JONES (HEART PATIENT): I'll walk up two flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator. I can pitch with my grandkids, you know, play ball with them.
DOCTOR RICHARD BESSER (ABC NEWS)(VO): Mike, 68 years old, was the first patient to receive a revolutionary treatment. Heart cells were removed from his body during bypass surgery. Then, in the lab, heart stem cells were grown. Remember stem cells can develop into any kind of cell. These stem cells were injected back into his heart's blood supply, where they began to grow heart muscle. The study, done in part at University of Louisville, Kentucky was small, just 16 patients, and was done just to see if the procedure was safe. The surprise? Not only was it safe, it worked.
DOCTOR ROBERTO BOLLI (CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE AT UNIV OF LOUISVILLE): It's remarkable that the very first time we test them we are seeing such a dramatic effect.
DOCTOR RICHARD BESSER (ABC NEWS)(VO): Before the stem cell treatment, Mike's heart was barely able to contract and pump blood. A year later, you can see mike's heart is leaner, more robust, pumping 40% more blood than before. And now, it's up by 60%.
DOCTOR ROBERTO BOLLI (CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE AT UNIV OF LOUISVILLE): This will be the biggest advance in cardiology in my lifetime.
MIKE JONES (HEART PATIENT): If you think about it, how much more natural can it be for your body to heal itself? That's what’s so beautiful about this. This thing is just so beautifully simple. The heart heals itself. It's nature's way of doing things.
DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): Pumping 40% more, I have not heard you this excited in a long time, Rich. So tell me, is this a real prospect that the nation's number one killer could be cured?
DOCTOR RICHARD BESSER (ABC NEWS)(OC): I mean, this is really incredible. I read this and my jaw dropped, you watch him playing field hockey with his daughter. This is someone with heart failure. Patients with heart failure don't tend to improve very much. You know, for so long doctors have looked at how do you repair a broken heart, that damaged muscle? And this is taking us in that direction. It's so exciting.
DIANE SAWYER: But there are those caveats?
DOCTOR RICHARD BESSER (ABC NEWS)(OC): Yes. You know, they have to do further studies. They have to do studies in many, many patients to see how many stem cells, how long, do they live longer. But this is really bringing hope in this area that was so dark for so long.
DIANE SAWYER: Great to see you smiling tonight.
DOCTOR RICHARD BESSER: It feels good.
DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): For everyone.