ABSTRACT

The mechanism of functional left ventricular (LV) improvement with skeletal myoblast transplantation is not clear and is still under investigation. Transplanted skeletal myoblasts do not result in the development of new cardiac myocytes, and the transplanted cells do not integrate into the electrical syncytium of the myocardium.9 Increases in LV ejection fraction with the introduction of skeletal myoblasts into the infarct zone are modest.2,10-12 However, the improvement in systolic function combined with the improvements in diastolic function that have been demonstrated ultimately appear to lead to overall improved cardiac performance.13,14

Cell transplantation: first in man trial in the USA The first in man US trial of skeletal myoblast transplantation was sponsored by and performed in collaboration with Diacrin Inc. This study was a phase 1 trial designed to study intracardiac injection of autologous skeletal myoblasts into transmural scar in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The goals of the trial were to establish safety and feasibility data.