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(Circulation. 2002;106:e9039.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cardiovascular News

Ruth SoRelle, MPH

Circulation Newswriter

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Cell Therapy for Damaged Heart Muscle

Intracoronary transplantation of autologous, mononuclear bone marrow cells appears to be safe and has some effect under clinical conditions, according to German researchers in this week’s issue of Circulation (Circulation. 2002;106:1913–1918). Researchers from the Division of Cardiology and Institute for Transplantation at Heinrich-Heine-University in Dusseldorf, Germany, led by Bodo E. Strauer, MD, described a trial in which bone marrow derived cells were given to 10 patients by intracoronary transplantation in addition to standard treatment for myocardial infarction. An additional 10 patients who had had a heart attack received standard therapy alone.

At 3 months, the researchers reported that the infarct regions had decreased significantly within the cell therapy group and were significantly smaller than those found in the group that received standard therapy. They noted that infarction wall movement velocity increased significantly only in the cell therapy group. In addition, further tests demonstrated significant improvement in stroke volume index, left ventricular end systolic volume, contractility (ratio of systolic pressure and end systolic volume), and myocardial perfusion of the infarct region.

The researchers warned: "Further experimental studies, controlled prospective clinical trials, and variations of cell preparations are required to define the role of this new approach for the therapy of acute MI [myocardial infarction] in humans."

Ezetimibe as a Cholesterol Reducer
Ezetimibe at 10 mg per day lowered cholesterol an average of 15.1% in a study of 18 patients who received the new drug in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. The study was performed by researchers from the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at . . . [Full Text of this Article]