Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026
Intramyocardial Cell Delivery: Observations in Murine Hearts
Published on: January 24, 2014
Can intracoronary stem cell injection permanently improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction?
Mohammad Abbasi1, Hadi Javan, Behzad Alizadeh
1Department of Cardiac Surgery, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Insights
Intracoronary stem cell injections show controversial long-term benefits for cardiac function after myocardial infarction. Cardiac MRI assessments suggest limited permanent improvements, unlike short-term gains observed in some studies.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Surgery
- Regenerative Medicine
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Myocardial infarction (MI) significantly impairs cardiac function.
- Stem cell therapy is being investigated for cardiac repair post-MI.
- Long-term efficacy of stem cell therapy remains uncertain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the permanent improvement in cardiac function following intracoronary stem cell injection after myocardial infarction.
- To assess the long-term benefits of stem cell therapy in cardiac surgery.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of 314 papers identified via a structured protocol.
- Analysis of five key studies representing the best evidence.
- Comparison of cardiac function assessment methods, including echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Main Results:
- Stem cell therapy demonstrated short-term benefits compared to standard medical treatment.
- Long-term improvements (over two years) in cardiac function were controversial.
- Studies using cardiac MRI, a more precise method, reported negative long-term results, questioning the reliability of positive findings from echocardiography-based studies.
Conclusions:
- The long-term benefits of intracoronary stem cell injection for cardiac function post-MI are debatable.
- Cardiac MRI is a more reliable tool for assessing long-term cardiac function changes post-stem cell therapy.
- Further research is needed to clarify the role and efficacy of stem cell therapy in managing myocardial infarction.
Abstract:
A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was 'Can intracoronary stem cell injection permanently improve cardiac function after myocardial infarction?'. Altogether 314 papers were found using the reported search, of which five represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated. We conclude that stem cells may have controversial effects on cardiac function in long-term follow-up of more than two years as they improved the left ventricular ejection fraction and end systolic volume index just in two studies in which none of them utilized cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as the most reliable method, to quantify cardiac function. However, all remaining three trials which reported negative results used cardiac MRI for assessment of cardiac indexes which may be more precise and accurate than echocardiographic assessments. So the reliability of the positive trials is lower than negative resulted trials in terms of cardiac function assessment method. Stem cell therapy almost always offered short-term benefits over the best medical treatment, but the long-term benefits are still a matter of debate.
