The effect of bone marrow mononuclear stem cell therapy on left ventricular function and myocardial perfusion

Background: Bone morrow stem cell (BMC) transfer is an emerging therapy with potential to salvage cardiomyocytes during acute myocardial infarction and promote regeneration and endogenous repair of damaged myocardium in patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. We performed a meta-analysis to examine the association between administration of BMC and LV functional recovery as assessed by imaging. Methods and Results: Our meta-analysis included data from 32 trials comprising information on 1,300 patients in the treatment arm and 1,006 patients in the control arm. Overall, BMC therapy was associated with a significant increase in LV ejection fraction by 4.6% ± 0.7% (P <.001) (control-adjusted increase of 2.8% ± 0.9%, P =.001), and a significant decrease in perfusion defect size by 9.5% ± 1.4% (P <.001) (control-adjusted decrease of 3.8% ± 1.2%, P =.002). The effect of BMC therapy was similar whether the cells were administered via intra-coronary or intra-myocardial routes and was not influenced by baseline ejection fraction or perfusion defect size. Conclusions: BMC transfer appears to have a positive impact on LV recovery in patients with acute coronary syndrome and those with stable coronary disease with or without heart failure. Most studies were small and a minority used a core laboratory for image analysis.