title: Autologous bone marrow cells and ischemic cardiomyopathy.
abstract: Evaluation of: Williams AR, Trachtenberg B, Velazquez DL et al. Intramyocardial stem cell injection in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy: functional recovery and reverse remodeling. Circ. Res. 108, 792-796 (2011). Transcatheter, intramyocardial injections of bone marrow-derived cells produce reverse remodeling in large animal models of ischemic cardiomyopathy. A variety of adult stem and progenitor cells from different sources have already been examined for their potential to promote cardiac repair and regeneration after myocardial infarction. This article reviews a recent study by Williams et al. who test the hypothesis that transcatheter, intramyocardial injections of autologous bone marrow progenitor cells (mononuclear or mesenchymal stem cells) in left ventricular scar and border zone improve regional contractility of a chronic myocardial scar and that these changes predict subsequent reverse remodeling. All patients tolerated the procedure with no serious adverse events. At 1 year, cardiac MRI demonstrated a decrease in end diastolic volume, a trend toward decreased end systolic volume, decreased infarct size and improved regional left ventricular function. This article focuses on the findings and limitations of the study and provides an insight for future promising clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, UMR915, l'Institut du Thorax, Université de Nantes, UFR médecine CHU Nantes, Nantes, France. roncalli.j@chu-toulouse.fr
authors.forename: Jerome
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roncalli
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lemarchand