Tissue engineered myoblast sheets improved cardiac function sufficiently to discontinue LVAS in a patient with DCM: report of a case

• DOI: 10.1007/s00595-011-0106-4
• Publication Date: 2011-12-26T08:38:01Z
• Authors: Yoshiki Sawa; Shigeru Miyagawa; Taichi Sakaguchi; Tomoyuki Fujita; Akifumi Matsuyama; Atsuhiro Saito; Tatsuya Shimizu; Teruo Okano
• Keywords: Cardiomyopathy, Dilated; Male; 0301 basic medicine; Tissue Engineering; Cell Transplantation; Myoblasts, Skeletal; Stroke Volume; Middle Aged; Transplantation, Autologous; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Humans; Ventricular Function; Heart-Assist Devices; Cells, Cultured; Follow-Up Studies

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a heart muscle disease characterized by progressive heart failure, and is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity. Recently, cellular therapy for end-stage heart failure has been emerging. We herein report a 56-year-old male who received a transplant of autologous myoblast sheets manufactured in temperature-responsive culture dishes. His clinical condition improved markedly, leaving him without any arrhythmia and able to discontinue using a left ventricular assist system and avoid cardiac transplantation. These findings suggest that cellular therapy using myoblast sheets is a promising new strategy for treating patients with end-stage DCM. This method might be an effective alternative to heart transplantation in the near future.