Safety and Feasibility of Autologous Myoblast Transplantation in Patients With Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

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Abstract
Background— Successful autologous skeletal myoblast transplantation into infarcted myocardium in a variety of animal models has demonstrated improvement in cardiac function. We evaluated the safety and feasibility of transplanting autologous myoblasts into infarcted myocardium of patients undergoing concurrent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. In addition, we sought to gain preliminary information on graft survival and any associated changes in cardiac function. Methods and Results— Thirty patients with a history of ischemic cardiomyopathy participated in a phase I, nonrandomized, multicenter pilot study of autologous skeletal myoblast transplantation concurrent with CABG or LVAD implantation. Twenty-four patients with a history of previous myocardial infarction and a left ventricular ejection fraction Conclusions— These results demonstrate the survival, feasibility, and safety of autologous myoblast transplantation and suggest that this modality offers a potential therapeutic treatment for end-stage heart disease.