Heart Care Info - Heart Disease Prevention & Treatment

Usefulness of intracoronary therapy with progenitor cells in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy: Bridge or alternative to heart transplantation?

J Rivas, JJ Menndez, R Arrieta... - Anales de pediatria ( ..., 2011 - INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Some paediatric publications have recently raised the value of intracoronary therapy with autologous bone marrow-derived progenitor cells (APCs) in children with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and heart failure. We describe the ...

Some paediatric publications have recently raised the value of intracoronary therapy with autologous bone marrow-derived progenitor cells (AP Cs) in children with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and heart failure. We describe the usefulness of this treatment in two infants with severe DCM and heart failure, who had been transferred to our hospital for cardiac transplant evaluation.

The first patient was a 3 months old male weighing 4 kg. The second was a 4 months old male weighing 5 kg. At the time of admission, both were in poor clinical condition (NYHA IV), with severe dilation and systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction [EF] 40%) and NT-pro BNP levels, subsequently maintained throughout the follow-up. However, four months later in the first patient, the left ventricle dilated again and its function slightly worsened, but without any significant impact in his clinical status.