Effect of intramyocardial bone marrow cell injection on diastolic function in patients with chronic myocardial ischemia

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intramyocardial bone marrow cell injection on diastolic function in patients with chronic myocardial ischemia.

Materials and methods: In 24 patients (19 male; 65 +/- 9 years) with refractory angina (Canadian Cardiovascular Society [CCS] class III-IV) 84.6 +/- 28.7 x 10(6) bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells were injected intramyocardially (using the NOGA system) in regions with ischemia on Tc-99m tetrofosmin single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Diastolic function was evaluated at baseline and at three months using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).

Results: MRI revealed an increased early (E) peak filling rate (374 +/- 121 mL/second vs. 412 +/- 102 mL/second; P = 0.04), whereas the atrial (A) peak filling rate remained unchanged (340 +/- 81 mL/second vs. 334 +/- 93 mL/second; P = not significant [NS]). The E/A peak flow ratio increased from 1.09 +/- 0.33 to 1.23 +/- 0.47 at three months (P = 0.02). TDI demonstrated a significant improvement in early diastolic velocity (E') from 4.4 +/- 1.7 cm/second to 4.8 +/- 1.6 cm/second at three months (P = 0.03), whereas the late diastolic velocity (A') remained unchanged (6.0 +/- 1.6 cm/second vs. 6.0 +/- 1.7 cm/second; P = NS). Consequently, the E'/A' ratio increased from 0.74 +/- 0.19 to 0.84 +/- 0.28 at three months (P = 0.02).

Conclusion: Intramyocardial bone marrow cell injection in patients with chronic myocardial ischemia improved MRI and TDI-derived parameters of diastolic function.