Skeletal Myoblast Transplantation Feasible Treatment for Post-MI Injury

Findings from a phase I trial suggest that skeletal myoblast transplantation may improve cardiac function in patients with postinfarction myocardial injury.

The results, which appear in the American Heart Journal for September, are based on a study of 10 patients who had an MI history and were scheduled to undergo CABG. The infarcts ranged in age from 4 months to 9 years.

Skeletal myoblasts were obtained from each patient, grown in culture for 3 weeks, and then injected into the infarcted areas during CABG, senior author Dr. Maciej Kurpisz, from the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznan, and colleagues note.

One patient died 7 days after surgery due to infarction in a region not targeted by myoblast therapy, the authors report. Autopsy findings suggested the death was unrelated to the transplantation procedure.

In the remaining patients, significant improvement in left ventricular ejection was noted when preoperative values were compared with those obtained 4 months after treatment. Moreover, this benefit persisted through 1-year follow-up.

After observing sustained ventricular tachycardia in a few patients, the researchers began using prophylactic amiodarone. Once this strategy was implemented, no more sustained ventricular tachycardia episodes occurred.

“Autologous skeletal myoblast transplantation for treatment of postinfarction heart failure is feasible, and initial observations justify further research to validate the method and define its role in clinical practice,” the authors conclude.