Heart Disease Care Revolution: How Research and Teamwork Shape the Future

MEXICO CITY – The future of heart disease care is evolving beyond transplants to include tissue regeneration and genomic medicine, as well as teamwork, according to cardiology specialists from the Faculty of Medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

While being honored for their trailblazing efforts in heart transplants at Mexico’s National Institute of Cardiology, the doctors emphasized the progress of scientific research in the country, aiming to better serve the future needs of those with heart conditions, the leading cause of death nationally.

“If you ask me, I say it fervently: The answer isn’t in transplants. The answer lies in tissue regeneration, in genomic medicine, in intercellular communication,” stated Dr. Rubén Argüero Sánchez, who performed Mexico’s first heart transplant 37 years ago at the “La Raza” Medical Center of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).

Speaking at the “Dr. Fernando Ocaranza” auditorium of the Faculty of Medicine, during the “Latido 25: Let’s speak from the heart” session, the emeritus professor added, “The solution is in the regeneration of stem cells that can renew the tissue.”

Reflecting on the experience of conducting the pioneering heart transplant in Mexico on July 21, 1988, which he described as a “historic milestone” in Mexican medicine, he highlighted that one of the most advanced treatments now includes the intraventricular injection of stem or trunk cells into the cardiac muscle.

“This is what we want to emphasize and insist on; this is the future… The heart is injected, without stopping it, because these are hearts so damaged that if you stop them, they won’t start again. So, while still beating, we inject into all sides, lateral and posterior, without damaging the coronary arteries,” he explained.

According to the federal Health Secretariat, approximately 220,000 people died from cardiovascular diseases in Mexico in 2021, with 177,000 due to myocardial infarction. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for individuals over 55 years old.

Moreover, of all deaths from cardiovascular problems, 80% were due to coronary artery disease or ischemic heart disease.

Scientific research in medicine will get a boost in this administration: Herrera 

Having directed the first heart transplant at the National Institute of Cardiology 25 years ago – on July 1, 2000 – Dr. Valentín Herrera Alarcón paid tribute to global pioneers in the field: Christiaan Barnard, the South African doctor who conducted the first heart transplant on December 3, 1967; Alexis Carrel, a French surgeon and Nobel Prize winner in Medicine in 1912, and Norman Shumway, who performed the first heart transplant in the United States in February 1968.

In an interview with Proceso, Herrera Alarcón noted that today’s scientific advancement in the field is focused on immunomodulation; that is, manipulating the immune system to either stimulate or suppress its response.

“We no longer suppress the cells; we identify and select them… Where is medicine heading now? To cell therapy, moving from the larger to the minutest, yet closest to the human body,” he stated.

He mentioned the reality of fetal cardiac surgery: “It’s already happening. For now, it’s for less complex surgeries, but it will progress so that the child is born without heart disease.”

As head of the Health Secretariat in the government of Veracruz since December 1, 2024, Herrera Alarcón remains keen on scientific advancements in the field:

“There’s a bright future for cardiology, a lot of potential for cardiac surgery, even though it might seem like surgeries are fading in favor of hemodynamics – a branch of Cardiology that analyzes blood flow within the heart and blood vessels – it’s not true.”

The cardiothoracic surgeon acknowledged that high research costs represent “a problem for faster progress.” However, he commended the work being done at the National Institute of Cardiology and hospitals such as “20 de Noviembre” and “López Mateos” of ISSSTE, the National Medical Center SXXI and “La Raza” of the IMSS, as well as the Children’s Hospital of Mexico.

He added that “there have always been altruistic groups or associations that help, provided there is an innovative project. Credit should be given where due, but the most important thing is that it impacts the health of Mexicans.”

Valentín Herrera expressed confidence that scientific research in medicine will receive a boost in this administration in Mexico: “Let’s hope things change, and President Claudia Sheinbaum, who is a doctor, will surely be interested in the topic. She’s a scientist. My governor (Rocío Nahle) is an engineer. They are well-prepared individuals who will surely say, ‘Well, what do we do? Heart engineering? How do we apply it?’”

Aware that cardiovascular diseases are the most common and leading cause of death worldwide, he emphasized that their treatment must be a collaborative effort:

“The monster of surgery, the monster of gastroenterology no longer exists. It’s also important the person who sweeps so you don’t fall in the operating room, just as much as the best surgeon who changes a heart. We all participate.”

More honorees 

During the public ceremony, Ana Carolina Sepúlveda Vildósola, the director of the Faculty of Medicine at UNAM, emphasized ethical commitment, constant research, and interdisciplinary collaboration as “the pillars that allow us to face current and future challenges, ensuring that cardiovascular medicine remains a cutting-edge specialty serving public health.”

The event also honored Dr. María del Sol García Ortegón, the first woman to perform a transplant in all of Latin America in 2017, as well as Drs. Guillermo Careaga Reyna, José Salvador Aburto Morales, Guillermo Díaz Quiroz, Alejandro Bolio Cerdán, and Óscar Alejandro Ortega Durán.