Systematic evaluation of therapeutic effects of stem cell transplantation trials for heart diseases in China

Background: To systematically assess the quality of reports of clinical trials of stem cell for heart diseases published in Chinese.

Methods: The quality of reports was assessed according to the CONSORT statement and the Jadad score. The association between the CONSORT scores and the reported therapeutic effects was evaluated.

Results: A total of 36 randomized clinical trials were identified, and 1552 patients were included. The mean CONSORT score was 7.06 (SD = 2.99). The proportion of reports with a Jadad score of 3 was 8.33%. The improvement of left ventricular function, myocardial perfusion area, left ventricular diastolic diameter, and cardiac output decreased with the increase in the CONSORT score.

Conclusions: The percentages of high-quality reports published in Chinese on stem cell therapy for heart diseases are low. Although stem cell transplantation seems promising for heart diseases, high-quality studies are needed to verify the conclusions．.