RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Effect of intramyocardial bone marrow cell injection on left ventricular dyssynchrony and global strain JF Heart JO Heart FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Cardiovascular Society SP 119 OP 124 DO 10.1136/hrt.2007.129569 VO 95 IS 2 A1 van Ramshorst, J A1 Atsma, D E A1 Beeres, S L M A A1 Mollema, S A A1 Ajmone Marsan, N A1 Holman, E R A1 van der Wall, E E A1 Schalij, M J A1 Bax, J J YR 2009 UL http://heart.bmj.com/content/95/2/119.abstract AB Objective: To evaluate the effect of bone marrow cell injection on global strain and left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony. Methods: In 14 patients with severe postinfarction heart failure, 93 (14)×106 autologous bone marrow cells were percutaneously injected in the infarction border zone. LV ejection fraction (LVEF), LV dyssynchrony and echocardiographic global strain were assessed at baseline and 3 months in patients and in a non-randomised control group of 10 patients with a history of infarction who developed heart failure and were treated medically. Results: No periprocedural complications occurred during bone marrow cell injection. At 3 months mean (SD) LVEF increased from 23 (8)% to 27 (9)% (p = 0.02) and global strain improved from −7.7 (4.7)% to −8.5 (4.9)% (p = 0.04). In patients with ⩾5% improvement in LVEF after bone marrow cell injection, global strain improved from −8.7 (4.6)% to −10.6 (4.5)% (p<0.01). Global strain remained unchanged in patients with <5% improvement in LVEF (−6.6 (4.9)% vs −6.4 (4.5)%, p = NS). The relation between the increase in LVEF and improvement in global strain was significant (r = 0.84, p<0.01). In patients with ⩾5% improvement in LVEF, LV dyssynchrony decreased from 173 (64) ms to 116 (64) ms (p = 0.01). In patients with <5% improvement in LVEF, LV dyssynchrony remained unchanged (155 (67) ms vs 177 (81) ms, p = NS). The correlation between improvement in LVEF and reduction in LV dyssynchrony was good (r = −0.77, p<0.01). In the control group, LVEF, global strain and LV dyssynchrony did not improve. Conclusions: Bone marrow cell injection improves LVEF in patients with severe postinfarction heart failure. The improvement in LVEF was related to reduced LV dyssynchrony and increased global strain.