Coronary Flow Reserve and Ventricular Function Following Regenerative Treatment in Patients With Revascularized Acute Anterior Myocardial Infarction

Abstract Introduction and objectives Bone marrow stem cells may reconstruct infarcted myocardium through distinct mechanisms. However, little is known on the relationship between recovery of muscular and microvascular function after regenerative treatments. Our objective was to analyze the relationship between changes in left ventricular and microvascular function in patients with anterior acute myocardial infarction receiving regenerative treatment. Methods We performed a pooled analysis of 2 clinical trials and a pilot study evaluating stem cell therapy in 88 patients with revascularized acute anterior myocardial infarction. Coronary flow reserve and left ventricular function were analyzed with identical methods in all patients. Patients treated with regenerative treatment received intracoronary bone–marrow-derived mononuclear cell transplant (n = 40), subcutaneous administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (n = 14), or a combination of both (n = 10). A control group of 24 patients was treated with conventional revascularization. Results Mean ejection fraction increased from 37% ± 8% to 46% ± 12%, ( P P Conclusions Left ventricular function shows favorable changes after regenerative treatment of infarction. However, no correlation was found between changes in microvascular and myocardial function after regenerative therapy.