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Updated: Jul 1, 2026
Intramyocardial Cell Delivery: Observations in Murine Hearts
Published on: January 24, 2014
Intracoronary autologous bone-marrow cell transfer after myocardial infarction: the BOOST randomised controlled
Kai C Wollert1, Gerd P Meyer, Joachim Lotz
1Department of Cardiology, Hanover Medical School, Hanover, Germany.
Insights
Bone marrow cell therapy improved heart function after myocardial infarction. This treatment enhanced left-ventricular systolic function without increasing adverse events, offering a promising regenerative approach for cardiac repair.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Regenerative Medicine
- Stem Cell Therapy
Background:
- Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) poses significant risks to cardiac function.
- Bone marrow-derived stem and progenitor cells show potential for cardiac repair.
- Previous studies suggest autologous bone marrow cells may improve outcomes post-AMI.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of intracoronary autologous bone marrow cell transfer in improving global left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 6 months post-AMI.
- To assess the safety of this regenerative therapy in patients recovering from ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.
Main Methods:
- A randomized trial involving 60 patients post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for AMI.
- Patients received either optimal medical treatment (control) or optimal medical treatment plus intracoronary autologous bone marrow cells.
- Left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was assessed by cardiac MRI at baseline and 6 months, with blinded image analysis.
Main Results:
- The bone marrow cell group showed a significant increase in mean global LVEF (6.7 percentage points) compared to the control group (0.7 percentage points) at 6 months (p=0.0026).
- Improvements in left-ventricular systolic function were observed primarily in myocardial segments adjacent to the infarcted area.
- No increase in adverse clinical events, in-stent restenosis, or proarrhythmic effects was noted.
Conclusions:
- Intracoronary transfer of autologous bone marrow cells is a safe and effective strategy for promoting left-ventricular systolic function recovery after acute myocardial infarction.
- This cell-based therapy represents a promising advancement in the management of ischemic heart disease.
Background:
Emerging evidence suggests that stem cells and progenitor cells derived from bone marrow can be used to improve cardiac function in patients after acute myocardial infarction. In this randomised trial, we aimed to assess whether intracoronary transfer of autologous bone-marrow cells could improve global left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) at 6 months' follow-up.
Methods:
After successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, 60 patients were randomly assigned to either a control group (n=30) that received optimum postinfarction medical treatment, or a bone-marrow-cell group (n=30) that received optimum medical treatment and intracoronary transfer of autologous bone-marrow cells 4.8 days (SD 1.3) after PCI. Primary endpoint was global left-ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) change from baseline to 6 months' follow-up, as determined by cardiac MRI. Image analyses were done by two investigators blinded for treatment assignment. Analysis was per protocol.
Findings:
Global LVEF at baseline (determined 3.5 days [SD 1.5] after PCI) was 51.3 (9.3%) in controls and 50.0 (10.0%) in the bone-marrow cell group (p=0.59). After 6 months, mean global LVEF had increased by 0.7 percentage points in the control group and 6.7 percentage points in the bone-marrow-cell group (p=0.0026). Transfer of bone-marrow cells enhanced left-ventricular systolic function primarily in myocardial segments adjacent to the infarcted area. Cell transfer did not increase the risk of adverse clinical events, in-stent restenosis, or proarrhythmic effects.
Interpretation:
Intracoronary transfer of autologous bone-marrow-cells promotes improvement of left-ventricular systolic function in patients after acute myocardial infarction.
