Cellular cardiomyoplasty as supportive therapy in patients with heart disease

摘要

The present invention provides a system for treating heart disease as a “bridge to recovery” using cellular cardiomyoplasty. The system is particularly useful in selecting and treating patients with damaged myocardium due coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and ischemia. Based on various clinical criteria, a patient is selected and optionally treated using cellular cardiomyoplasty to improve the patient's cardiac function. The cardiomyoplasty may be combined with other treatments such as medications or left ventricular assist devices. Preferably, the cellular cardiomyoplasty eliminates the need for invasive surgery such as by-pass grafting or cardiac transplantation. The invention also provides kits for use in selecting and treating patients using the inventive method.

主权项

1. A method of treating a patient with heart disease, the method comprising steps of: treating a patient suffering from heart disease using a left ventricular assist device; treating the patient using cellular cardiomyoplasty; and removing the left ventricular assist device from the heart, without orthotopic cardiac transplantation, when measurement of ventricular volume shows at least a 10% improvement.