A patch made from donated human placenta is being used to help patients avoid complications after heart surgery, The Daily Mail reported.

It is made from the inner layer of the placenta, which supplies blood and nutrients to the baby in the womb.

This inner section, known as the amniotic membrane, contains growth factors that have both an anti-inflammatory effect and encourage the development of new blood vessels.

It's thought the patch could help reduce the risk of a heart rhythm problem that often occurs following heart surgery.

The condition, atrial fibrillation, is caused when faulty messages are sent to the heart's pacemaker, causing an irregular and rapid heartbeat.

This reduces the heart's ability to pump blood, and significantly raises the risk of a stroke.

Up to 40 per cent of patients who have a coronary artery bypass graft or other open heart surgery go on to develop atrial fibrillation, possibly because of the inflammation caused by the surgery.

Drugs such as beta blockers can help control atrial fibrillation, but these have potential side-effects such as tiredness, impotence, nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to sunlight or heart failure.

The new patch may offer surgery patients an alternative. The theory is that it will stop inflammation in tissue affected by surgery.

The patch itself comes from placental tissue donated by women who have had a Caesarean.  The donated tissue is cleaned and sterilised in the laboratory to minimise the risk of rejection. The patch can then be trimmed into any size and is then stitched or simply placed onto the heart at the end of the surgery - the membrane is sticky so it clings to the heart like Clingfilm.

The patch is placed wherever the pericardium, the covering of the heart, has been opened. Initial tests in the laboratory and on animals have found the patch to be effective at reducing inflammation. It has been used in a small number of people, with more trials planned.

In one trial due to start this month at Arizona University,  50 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery will have the patch applied to the  surface of the heart at the end of the surgery.

The developer -Amnio Tech- nology, based in Phoenix, Arizona,  - says the patch could be used in other forms of surgery too. For example, to reduce scar formation, as the placenta patch not only helps with recovery, it is also rich in collagen, a chief component of the skin.