Thousands of patients dying of heart failure could have their organs rejuvenated by a new treatment.

In a trial at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospital, three quarters of the patients who otherwise faced death made a recovery, and of these all but one were still alive and free of heart disease five years later.

Sir Magdi Yacoub, the heart surgeon who launched the study, said he was impressed by the "dramatic and sustained" improvement of the condition of these severely-ill patients.

"The improvement was far greater than what has been reported to date for any other therapy in patients with severe, but less advanced, forms of heart failure" he said.

"The study also highlights the fact that 'end stage' heart failure can be reversed and that the heart has the capacity to regenerate itself.

"It therefore stimulates the search for other strategies and more therapeutic targets in this expanding field of regenerative therapy."

The results were achieved by using an artificial heart to allow the patients’ hearts time to rest, combined with treatment by two drugs: one to shrink the heart, which in heart failure is greatly enlarged, and a second to encourage the heart muscle to regenerate.

Dr Emma Birks, consultant in cardiology at the hospital and lead researcher in the study, which is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said: "We’ve waited a long time before publishing this study, to make sure it wasn’t just a short-term effect.

"We’re now convinced that it is not. We have shown that this recovery can be sustained for at least five years, vastly improving the health outcomes for our patients.

"Heart transplants have for many years been the gold standard in the treatment of those with severe heart failure. It has proven very successful but is not without its shortcomings, particularly the shortage of donor heats and the risk of organ rejection.

"This combined therapy has the potential to ease the pressure on the waiting list while also offering patients a better alternative to a donor heart - their own, healthy heart."

Heart failure is extremely common, affecting about 750,000 people in the UK. It can be caused by a heart attack, which damages the heart muscle, or by conditions such as cardiomyopathy, a disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and loses its ability to pump blood effectively.

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