HOUSTON - Officials on Friday announced a major advancement in the treatment of heart disease.

Texas Heart Institute

Doctors at the Texas Heart Institute became the first in the world to inject stem cells into a patient’s heart.

The monumental medical case involved a man who suffered a heart attack three weeks ago.

The procedure has been shown to rebuild heart muscles in animals, but this is first time it has been tried on humans.

“I think in the next five years or so there will be accepted stem cell therapies for heart attacks and heart failure,” said Dr. James Wilderson. "Probably will improve over time and at some point in the future, whole hearts will be regenerated."

The stems cells used by the doctors came from the bone marrow of a healthy donor and not embryos.

The cells were injected directly into the heart through a catheter.