* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download free article - University of Kansas Medical Center
Survey
Document related concepts
Transcript
Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging (2009) 36:587–593 DOI 10.1007/s00259-008-0988-6 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Impact of intracoronary injection of mononuclear bone marrow cells in acute myocardial infarction on left ventricular perfusion and function: a 6-month follow-up gated 99mTc-MIBI single-photon emission computed tomography study Piotr Lipiec & Maria Krzemińska-Pakuła & Michał Plewka & Jacek Kuśmierek & Anna Płachcińska & Remigiusz Szumiński & Tadeusz Robak & Anna Korycka & Jarosław D. Kasprzak Received: 15 July 2008 / Accepted: 9 October 2008 / Published online: 29 November 2008 # Springer-Verlag 2008 Abstract Purpose We investigated the impact of intracoronary injection of autologous mononuclear bone marrow cells (BMC) in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) on left ventricular volumes, global and regional systolic function and myocardial perfusion. Methods The study included 39 patients with first anterior STEMI treated successfully with primary percutaneous coronary intervention. They were randomly assigned to the treatment group or the control group in a 2:1 ratio. The patients underwent baseline gated single-photon emission computed tomography (G-SPECT) 3–10 days after STEMI with quantitative and qualitative analysis of left ventricular perfusion and systolic function. On the following day, patients from the BMC treatment group were subjected to bone marP. Lipiec : M. Krzemińska-Pakuła : M. Plewka : J. D. Kasprzak 2nd Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland J. Kuśmierek : A. Płachcińska : R. Szumiński Department of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland T. Robak : A. Korycka Department of Hematology, Medical University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland P. Lipiec (*) 2nd Department of Cardiology, Bieganski Hospital, Medical University of Łódź, Kniaziewicza 1/5, 91-347 Łódź, Poland e-mail: [email protected] row aspiration, mononuclear BMC isolation and intracoronary injection. No placebo procedure was performed in the control group. G-SPECT was repeated 6 months after STEMI. Results Baseline and follow-up G-SPECT studies were available for 36 patients. At 6 months in the BMC group we observed a significantly enhanced improvement in the mean extent of the perfusion defect, the left ventricular perfusion score index, the infarct area perfusion score and the infarct area wall motion score index compared to the control group (p=0.01–0.04). However, the changes in left ventricular volume, ejection fraction and the left ventricular wall motion score index as well as the relative changes in the infarct area wall motion score index did not differ significantly between the groups. Conclusion Intracoronary injection of autologous mononuclear BMC in patients with STEMI improves myocardial perfusion at 6 months. The benefit in infarct area systolic function is less pronounced and there is no apparent improvement of global left ventricular systolic function. Keywords Myocardial infarction . Mononuclear bone marrow cells . Gated single-photon emission computed tomography . Left ventricular systolic function . Myocardial perfusion Introduction Despite the widespread use of state-of-the-art invasive and pharmacological treatment, myocardial infarction with 588 resulting left ventricular dysfunction remains one of the major causes of chronic heart failure [1]. Experimental and clinical studies have shown that intracoronary injection of mononuclear bone marrow cells (BMC) in patients with acute myocardial infarction may improve left ventricular perfusion and function more than conventional therapy. However, the evidence remains conflicting and the underlying mechanisms as well as the optimal treatment protocols are still disputed [2–4]. Different imaging modalities have been employed for the assessment of the effect of BMC treatment on cardiac performance, including: left ventricular angiography, echocardiography, magnetic resonance imaging and gated single-photon emission computed tomography (G-SPECT) [2, 3]. G-SPECT is widely considered a reference method for the assessment of myocardial perfusion [5]. Quantitative G-SPECT (QGS) is also a well-validated tool that allows the computation of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction as well as the evaluation of regional wall motion abnormalities based on data acquired during perfusion studies [6–9]. We sought to determine the impact of intracoronary injection of autologous mononuclear BMC in patients with acute myocardial infarction treated successfully with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on left ventricular volume, global and regional systolic function and myocardial perfusion assessed by G-SPECT over a 6-month follow-up period. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging (2009) 36:587–593 patients in the BMC treatment group were subjected to intracoronary cell therapy. No placebo procedure (sham bone marrow aspiration or injection) was performed in the control group. The patients’ pharmacological treatment during hospitalization and follow-up was administered in accordance with current guidelines and was not influenced by their study group assignment. The patients underwent repeated G-SPECT and clinical evaluation 6 months after STEMI. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of our institution and written consent was obtained from all participants. Intracoronary cell therapy Material and methods A total of 100 ml of bone marrow was aspirated from the iliac crest under local anaesthesia. The cell preparation procedure and administration protocol have been described in detail previously [10, 11]. In brief, bone marrow aspirates were diluted with 20 ml 0.9% NaCl and filtered, and mononuclear cells (CD34+ and CD133+) were isolated by density gradient centrifugation (Ficoll-Paque Plus, 15°C, 20 min). The mononuclear cells were then washed twice with 0.9% NaCl, suspended in 30 ml 0.9% NaCl, filtered and subjected to quality and quantity control. Subsequently, 2–3 h after bone marrow harvest, 20.3 ± 2.2 ml of mononuclear cell suspension was infused in four portions into the infarct-related artery with a stop-flow balloon catheter technique through an over-the-wire balloon catheter (Ninja, Cordis) positioned within the culprit-lesion stent. Intermittent balloon inflation was used to ensure the absence of flow distal to the segment containing the stent. Patient population G-SPECT Included in the study were 39 patients with first ST elevation anterior myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated successfully with primary PCI of the infarct-related artery within 12 h of the onset of symptoms and demonstrating significant left ventricular systolic dysfunction (ejection fraction ≤40%) on echocardiographic examination performed within 48 h of PCI. The exclusion criteria were: previous myocardial infarction, presence of multivessel coronary artery disease, clinical and haemodynamic instability, current infection, neoplasm and other severe coexisting conditions that could have influenced compliance with the protocol or the 1-year prognosis. G-SPECT studies (eight gates per cycle) were obtained at rest with datasets acquired approximately 1 h after injection of a weight-adjusted dose (555–1100 MBq) of 99mTcmethoxyisobutylisonitrile. A total of 64 projections, each lasting 25 s, were acquired over a 180° arc from the 45° right anterior oblique to the 45° left posterior oblique position using a Varicam dual head camera (GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI). Data were reconstructed by filtered back projection (Butterworth filter order 2.5, cut-off frequency 0.36 of the Nyquist frequency) using a commercially available Xpert workstation (GE Medical Systems). Perfusion data were analysed quantitatively (CEqual software, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, CA) yielding leftventricular perfusion defect extent (PDE). Perfusion images were also analysed qualitatively by a single investigator blinded to all other data using the Cedars-Sinai 20-segment model of the left ventricle (including six segments each of the basal, midventricular and distal short-axis slices and two apical segments in a midventricular vertical long-axis Study protocol Patients were randomly assigned to a BMC treatment group or a control group in a 2:1 ratio (26:13). Patients underwent baseline ECG-gated 99m Tc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile SPECT 3–10 days after STEMI. On the following day, Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging (2009) 36:587–593 Table 1 Study population characteristics. Data are presented as the means±SD (range) or number (%) of patients 589 Age (years) Gender (M/F) Stent use Maximum troponin T (ng/ml) Days to baseline G-SPECT CD133+ (×106 cells) CD 34+ (×106 cells) Treatment group (n=26) Control group (n=10) p value 57±9 (36–73) 18/8 26 (100%) 24±16 (2–69) 6.3±1.7 (3–10) 0.33±0.17 (0.08–0.78) 3.36±1.87 (0.85–8.00) 59±9 (45–74) 7/3 9 (90%) 21±15 (2–50) 6.7±1.9 (4–10) NA NA 0.66 0.73 0.62 0.49 0.55 NA NA NA not applicable. slice) [12]. Radiopharmaceutical uptake in each of the 20 segments was scored using four-point scale: normal (0), mildly reduced (1), moderately reduced (2), and severely reduced/no uptake (3). Thereafter, the left ventricular perfusion score index (LV PSI) was calculated by dividing the sum of scores for all segments by 20. The segments demonstrating reduced tracer uptake during the baseline study were considered to belong to the infarct area. For each patient the infarct area perfusion score index (IA PSI) was calculated by dividing the sum of scores for all segments from the infarct area by the number of these segments. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume (LV EDV), endsystolic volumes (LV ESV) and ejection fraction (LV EF) were assessed with the commercially available automated software – QGS (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA). Regional wall motion abnormalities were assessed qualitatively using the eight-segment model of the left ventricle (including five segments in a midventricular vertical long-axis slice and three segments in the midventricular short-axis slice). Wall motion was scored in each of the eight segments as normal (1), hypokinetic (2), akinetic (3), or dyskinetic (4). The left-ventricular wall motion score index (LV WMSI) was then calculated by dividing the sum of scores for all segments by 8. The segments demonstrating wall motion abnormality during the baseline study were considered to belong to the infarct area. In patients who exhibited no wall motion abnormalities in the eight analysed segments during the baseline study, the segments belonging to the vascular territory of the infarct-related artery were considered to belong to the infarct area. For each patient the infarct area wall motion score index (IA WMSI) was calculated by dividing the sum of scores for all segments from the infarct area by the number of these segments. Statistical analysis Continuous variables that approximated a normal distribution (as assessed by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test) and categorical variables are expressed as means±SD and as percentages, respectively, unless otherwise stated. The unpaired t test was used to compare continuous variables between study groups. However, first the F test was used to compare the variances of the analysed samples. If the p value was low (p<0.05) the variances of the two samples Table 2 LV EDV, LV ESV, LV EF, LV WMSI and IA WMSI at baseline and at 6 months, and their absolute change from baseline to 6 months in the BMC treatment group and the control group Baselinea p value 6 monthsa Treatment group Control group (n=26) (n=10) LV EDV (ml) 147.0±46.3 (68.0–226.0) LV ESV (ml) 89.8±38.2 (26.0–152.0) LV EF (%) 41.2±10.1 (26.0–61.0) LV WMSI 1.65±0.37 (1.00–2.50) IA WMSI 2.30±0.45 (1.00–3.33) a b 169.1±91.5 (57.0–354.0) 110.0±75.9 (20.0–261.0) 40.0±14.2 (26.0–64.0) 1.51±0.41 (1.00–2.00) 1.85±0.59 (1.00–2.40) Means±SD (range). Means±SD (95% confidence interval). 0.48 0.44 0.79 0.33 0.02 Changeb p value Treatment group Control group Treatment group (n=26) (n=10) (n=26) Control group (n=10) 156.7±65.2 (64.0–292.0) 94.8±57.2 (22.0–214.0) 44.2±13.7 (26.0–68.0) 1.43±0.40 (1.00–2.13) 1.70±0.55 (1.00–2.50) 9.9±37.1 (−16.7 to 36.5) 3.4±28.0 (−16.6 to 23.4) 3.8±4.6 (0.5 to 7.1) −0.10±0.17 (−0.23 to 0.03) −0.25±0.33 (−0.49 to −0.01) 178.4±106.3 (49.0–336.0) 113.4±86.4 (15.0–247.0) 43.8±15.3 (26.0–69.0) 1.41±0.41 (1.00–2.00) 1.60±0.55 (1.00–2.40) 9.7±40.4 (−6.6 to 26.0) 5.0±34.3 (−8.9 to 18.8) 3.0±7.3 (0.1 to 6.0) −0.22±0.33 (−0.36 to −0.09) −0.61±0.64 (−0.87 to −0.35) 0.99 0.90 0.76 0.17 0.04 590 Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging (2009) 36:587–593 were assumed to be unequal; we used the t test with a correction for unequal variances (Welch test). Statistical significance was assumed for p values less than 0.05. Results All patients had myocardial infarction related to the left anterior descending coronary artery. In the treatment group there were no deaths during the follow-up period. In the control group there was one death, which occurred in the 5th month of the follow-up period. Furthermore, in the control group two patients failed to attend for follow-up GSPECT. Therefore, the results of baseline and follow-up GSPECT studies were available for 26 patients from the treatment group and 10 patients from the control group. These 36 patients were the subject of further analysis; their characteristics are summarized in Table 1. Left ventricular volumes and function LV EDV, LV ESV and LV EF assessed by QGS at baseline and after 6 months, as well as their change from baseline to follow-up, are presented in Table 2. There were no statistically significant differences between the BMC treatment group and the control group in the baseline values of LV EDV, LV ESV and LV EF (p=0.48–0.79). In the follow-up G-SPECT study increases in LV EDV, LV ESV and LV EF were seen in both groups. These changes did not differ between the treatment group and the control group (p=0.76–0.99; Fig. 1a). Table 2 presents the values of LV WMSI and IA WMSI at baseline and at 6 months. There was no statistically significant difference between the treatment group and the control group in baseline LV WMSI (p = 0.33). The decrease in LV WMSI over 6 months did not differ significantly between the two groups (p=0.17), even though the mean improvement in the treatment group was twofold that observed in the control group (Fig. 1b). There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in baseline IA WMSI with the treatment group demonstrating higher values (2.30±0.45 vs 1.85±0.59, p=0.02). The absolute change in IA WMSI over 6 months also differed significantly between the treatment group and the control group (−0.61±0.64 vs −0.25±0.33, p=0.04; Fig. 1c). Because of significant differences in baseline IA WMSI values between the groups, the relative changes in IA WMSI (ratios of the absolute changes to the baseline values) were calculated. Despite the mean values of the relative changes of IA WMSI differing twofold in favour of the treatment group, there was a trend towards more pronounced improvement in the treatment group, but no statistically significant difference between the treatment Fig. 1 Absolute changes in LV EF (a), LV WMSI (b) and IA WMSI (c) between baseline and 6 months in the BMC treatment group and the control group. The bars indicate the mean changes and the whiskers indicate 95% confidence intervals for the mean changes group and the control group (−0.24±0.24 vs −0.11±0.16, p=0.14). In the treatment group there were no statistically significant correlations between changes in indices of systolic function from baseline to follow-up and volume of injected cells, numbers of CD133+ or CD34+ cells. Myocardial perfusion The results of quantitative and qualitative analysis of GSPECT perfusion images at baseline and at 6 months are summarized in Table 3. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline PDE, LV PSI and IA PSI between the treatment group and the control group (p=0.68–0.90). At Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging (2009) 36:587–593 591 Table 3 PDE, LV PSI and IA PSI at baseline and at 6 months, and their absolute changes from baseline to 6 months in the treatment group and the control group Baselinea PDE (%) LV PSI IA PSI a b p value Treatment group (n=26) Control group (n=10) 25.8±14.8 (6.0–49.0) 1.14±0.45 (0.35–1.80) 1.83±0.42 (1.00–2.57) 23.4±16.4 (0.0–44.0) 1.17±0.73 (0.05–2.15) 1.85±0.61 (1.00–2.53) 0.68 0.90 0.90 6 monthsa Changeb p value Treatment group (n=26) Control group (n=10) Treatment group (n=26) Control group (n=10) 20.3±15.1 (0.0–42.0) 0.95±0.49 (0.10–1.70) 1.42±0.61 (0.29–2.43) 22.3±16.3 (1.0–43.0) 1.22±0.67 (0.05–2.00) 1.86±0.68 (0.50–2.69) −5.4±4.8 (−7.4 to −3.5) −0.18±0.27 (−0.30 to −0.07) −0.41±0.38 (−0.56 to −0.26) −1.1±4.5 (−4.3 to 2.1) 0.05±0.27 (−0.14 to 0.24) 0.01±0.51 (−0.35 to 0.37) 0.02 0.03 0.01 Means±SD (range). Means±SD (95% confidence interval). 6 months a decrease in mean PDE was seen in both groups, but the absolute change from the baseline value was significantly enhanced in the treatment group compared to the control group (−5.4±4.8 vs −1.1±4.5, p=0.02; Fig. 2a). Moreover, in the treatment group there were decreases in the mean values of LV PSI and IA PSI (−0.18±0.27 and −0.41± 0.38, respectively), whereas in the control group there was a slight increase in mean LV PSI and IA PSI (0.05±0.27 and 0.01±0.51, respectively). The changes in LV PSI and IA PSI differed significantly between the two groups (p=0.01–0.03; Fig. 2b,c). In the treatment group there were no statistically significant correlations between changes in indices of myocardial perfusion from baseline to follow-up and patients’ baseline characteristics, volume of injected cells, numbers of CD133+ or CD34+ cells. Discussion Our study demonstrated that in patients with large STEMI of anterior wall, intracoronary injection of autologous mononuclear BMC 4–11 days after successful primary PCI significantly improves myocardial perfusion at 6 months compared to patients treated conventionally. Furthermore, the IA WMSI was significantly more improved at 6 months in the BMC treatment group than in the control group. Nevertheless, in the BMC treatment group no significant improvement in LV EF or a significant reduction in left ventricular volumes as compared with the control group was observed at 6 months. The LV WMSI showed a trend towards more pronounced improvement in the BMC treatment group. Similarly, the difference between groups in the relative changes in IA WMSI from baseline to 6 months failed to reach statistical significance. Changes in indices of myocardial perfusion and function did not correlate with volume or number of injected cells. Fig. 2 Absolute changes in PDE (a), LV PSI (b) and IA PSI (c) between baseline and 6 months in the treatment group and the control group. The bars indicate the mean changes and the whiskers indicate 95% confidence intervals for the mean changes 592 Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging (2009) 36:587–593 As mentioned above, the evidence in the literature concerning the effect of BMC therapy on myocardial perfusion and function is conflicting, with some studies showing no improvement of left ventricular function or perfusion [13, 14] and others indicating significant benefit [15–18]. Not surprisingly, at first glance our findings seem to be consistent with observations of certain investigators, and at the same time to be contradictory to the findings of other investigators. These discrepancies can be best explained by the heterogeneity of study protocols. It has been clearly shown that the choice of cell preparation protocol has a major impact on the functional activity of BMC [19]. Furthermore, meta-analysis by Lipinski et al. of controlled clinical trials demonstrated that the effect on the change in LV EF may be related to the injected cell volume (p=0.066; in our study no significant correlation, probably due to the low number of patients) [3]. Baseline LV EF and time from the reperfusion therapy to intracoronary cell therapy have also been shown to significantly influence the degree of functional improvement after BMC treatment [16]. Since the study protocols differed also with regard to other inclusion criteria, cell populations used for therapy, cell administration protocols and imaging modalities used to assess functional change [2, 3], such conflicting results in the literature come as no surprise. Similarly, the underlying mechanisms of BMC treatment are still disputed [4]. Putative mechanisms of action of stem cells include a paracrine effect (secretion of cardioprotective factors and angiogenic cytokines), transdifferentiation into endothelium and myocardial tissue, and cell fusion [20–23]. The significant improvement in myocardial perfusion with less apparent benefit on myocardial systolic function observed in our study in the BMC treatment group support the hypothesis of vasculogenesis as a major mechanism of the BMC treatment. One of the inclusion criteria in our study was significant left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LV EF ≤40%) on echocardiographic examination performed within 48 h of primary PCI, whereas the mean baseline value of LV EF assessed by G-SPECT and further used for analysis was 41.2±10.1% and 40.0±14.2% for the BMC treatment group and the control group, respectively. There are two possible reasons for this discrepancy: first, there was a time interval between study enrolment echocardiographic examination (first 48 h after PCI) and baseline G-SPECT (3– 10 days after PCI); second, as described previously LV EF can be overestimated by G-SPECT compared to echocardiography in patients with a small heart due to underestimation of volumes, particularly in end-systolic phase [24, 25]. a well-validated technique, the strength of the evidence obtained would undoubtedly benefit from confirmation of the results by other imaging modalities. Currently, the 17-segment model of the left ventricle is recommended for the interpretation of SPECT images [26]. In this study, for perfusion assessment we used the stillwidespread Cedars-Sinai 20-segment model, whereas for wall motion analysis we used an eight-segment model, which was a modification of the nine-segment model employed by some investigators [9]. In the control group no placebo procedure (sham bone marrow aspiration or injection) was performed. This fact should not have influenced the results of the G-SPECT analysis, because the G-SPECT data were analysed by an investigator blinded to all other data, including the treatment assignment. However, the lack of a placebo procedure could have influenced the patients’ behaviour and may partially explain the poorer patient compliance with the study protocol in the control group, in which two patients failed to attend follow-up G-SPECT. The number of patients included in our study is insufficient for drawing definite conclusions regarding both clinical endpoints and the safety of mononuclear BMC intracoronary transfer. Therefore, even though we realize that the data regarding the effect of intracoronary injection of autologous mononuclear BMC on clinical end-points would be of great interest, we focused our analysis on the procedure’s influence on the parameters of myocardial perfusion and function. One may also hypothesize that the relatively small number of patients in this study prevented the benefit on WMSI in the BMC treatment group from reaching statistical significance. Limitations References In this study left ventricular volumes, perfusion and function were assessed using G-SPECT. Even though it is Conclusion Intracoronary injection of autologous mononuclear BMC in patients with acute myocardial infarction improves myocardial perfusion at 6 months. The benefit in systolic function of the infarct area is less pronounced and there is no apparent improvement of global left ventricular systolic function. Further experimental studies and large-scale randomized clinical trials are needed to fully establish the mechanisms and the efficacy of BMC therapy in patients with myocardial infarction. Acknowledgments The study was financially supported by a grant from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (no. 2 P05B 178 28). Conflicts of interest None. 1. Swedberg K, Cleland J, Dargie H, Drexler H, Follath F, Komajda M, et al.; Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging (2009) 36:587–593 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Heart Failure of the European Society of Cardiology. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic heart failure: executive summary (update 2005): The Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure of the European Society of Cardiology. Eur Heart J 2005;26:1115–1140. Abdel-Latif A, Bolli R, Tleyjeh IM, Montori VM, Perin EC, Hornung CA, et al. Adult bone marrow-derived cells for cardiac repair: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med 2007;167:989–997. Lipinski MJ, Biondi-Zoccai GG, Abbate A, Khianey R, Sheiban I, Bartunek J, et al. Impact of intracoronary cell therapy on left ventricular function in the setting of acute myocardial infarction: a collaborative systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials. J Am Coll Cardiol 2007;50:1761–1767. Guan K, Hasenfuss G. Do stem cells in the heart truly differentiate into cardiomyocytes? J Mol Cell Cardiol 2007;43:377–387. Klocke FJ, Baird MG, Lorell BH, Bateman TM, Messer JV, Berman DS, et al.; American College of Cardiology; American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines; American Society for Nuclear Cardiology. ACC/AHA/ASNC guidelines for the clinical use of cardiac radionuclide imaging – executive summary: a report of the American College of Cardiology/ American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines (ACC/AHA/ASNC Committee to Revise the 1995 Guidelines for the Clinical Use of Cardiac Radionuclide Imaging). Circulation 2003;108:1404–1418. Germano G, Kiat H, Kavanagh PB, Moriel M, Mazzanti M, Su HT, et al. Automatic quantification of ejection fraction from gated myocardial perfusion SPECT. J Nucl Med 1995;36:2138–2147. Persson E, Carlsson M, Palmer J, Pahlm O, Arheden H. Evaluation of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction by automated gated myocardial SPECT versus cardiovascular magnetic resonance. Clin Physiol Funct Imaging 2005;25:135–141. Schaefer WM, Lipke CS, Standke D, Kühl HP, Nowak B, Kaiser HJ, et al. Quantification of left ventricular volumes and ejection fraction from gated 99mTc-MIBI SPECT: MRI validation and comparison of the Emory Cardiac Tool Box with QGS and 4DMSPECT. J Nucl Med 2005;46:1256–1263. Adachi I, Morita K, Imran MB, Konno M, Mochizuki T, Kubo N, et al. Heterogeneity of myocardial wall motion and thickening in the left ventricle evaluated with quantitative gated SPECT. J Nucl Cardiol 2000;7:296–300. Korycka A, Plewka M, Krawczyńska A, Zubkowicz M, Wierzbowska A, Wrzesień-Kuś A, et al. The evaluation of efficacy of bone marrow CD34+ and CD133+ cells isolated from patients with acute myocardial infarction. Acta Haematol Pol 2008;39:73–86. Plewka M, Krzemińska-Pakuła M, Jeżewski T, Wrzesień-Kuś A, Wierzbowska A, Lipiec P, et al. Early echocardiographic assessment of coronary flow reserve after intracoronary administration of bone marrow stem cells in patients with myocardial infarction. Pol J Cardiol 2008;10:48–53. Matsumoto N, Berman DS, Kavanagh PB, Gerlach J, Hayes SW, Lewin HC, et al. Quantitative assessment of motion artifacts and validation of a new motion-correction program for myocardial perfusion SPECT. J Nucl Med 2001;42:687–694. Lunde K, Solheim S, Aakhus S, Arnesen H, Abdelnoor M, Egeland T, et al. Intracoronary injection of mononuclear bone marrow cells in acute myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med 2006;355:1199–1209. Janssens S, Dubois C, Bogaert J, Theunissen K, Deroose C, Desmet W, et al. Autologous bone marrow-derived stem-cell 593 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. transfer in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: double-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2006;367: 113–121. Strauer BE, Brehm M, Zeus T, Köstering M, Hernandez A, Sorg RV, et al. Repair of infarcted myocardium by autologous intracoronary mononuclear bone marrow cell transplantation in humans. Circulation 2002;106:1913–1918. Schächinger V, Erbs S, Elsässer A, Haberbosch W, Hambrecht R, Hölschermann H, et al,; REPAIR-AMI Investigators. Intracoronary bone marrow-derived progenitor cells in acute myocardial infarction. N Engl J Med 2006;355:1210–1221. Bartunek J, Vanderheyden M, Vandekerckhove B, Mansour S, De Bruyne B, De Bondt P, et al. Intracoronary injection of CD133positive enriched bone marrow progenitor cells promotes cardiac recovery after recent myocardial infarction: feasibility and safety. Circulation 2005;112(9 Suppl):I178–I183. Döbert N, Britten M, Assmus B, Berner U, Menzel C, Lehmann R, et al. Transplantation of progenitor cells after reperfused acute myocardial infarction: evaluation of perfusion and myocardial viability with FDG-PET and thallium SPECT. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2004;31:1146–1151. Seeger FH, Tonn T, Krzossok N, Zeiher AM, Dimmeler S. Cell isolation procedures matter: a comparison of different isolation protocols of bone marrow mononuclear cells used for cell therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Eur Heart J 2007;28: 766–772. Yoon YS, Wecker A, Heyd L, Park JS, Tkebuchava T, Kusano K, et al. Clonally expanded novel multipotent stem cells from human bone marrow regenerate myocardium after myocardial infarction. J Clin Invest 2005;115:326–338. Kocher AA, Schuster MD, Szabolcs MJ, Takuma S, Burkhoff D, Wang J, et al. Neovascularization of ischemic myocardium by human bone marrow-derived angioblasts prevents cardiomyocyte apoptosis, reduces remodeling and improves cardiac function. Nat Med 2001;7:430–436. Fazel S, Cimini M, Chen L, Li S, Angoulvant D, Fedak P, et al. Cardioprotective c-kit+ cells are from the bone marrow and regulate the myocardial balance of angiogenic cytokines. J Clin Invest 2006;116:1865–1877. Kinnaird T, Stabile E, Burnett MS, Lee CW, Barr S, Fuchs S, et al. Marrow-derived stromal cells express genes encoding a broad spectrum of arteriogenic cytokines and promote in vitro and in vivo arteriogenesis through paracrine mechanisms. Circ Res 2004;94:678–685. Khalil MM, Elgazzar A, Khalil W, Omar A, Ziada G. Assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction by four different methods using 99mTc tetrofosmin gated SPECT in patients with small hearts: correlation with gated blood pool. Nucl Med Commun 2005;26: 885–893. Lipiec P, Wejner-Mik P, Krzemińska-Pakuła M, Kuśmierek J, Płachcińska A, Szumiński R, et al. Gated 99mTc-MIBI singlephoton emission computed tomography for the evaluation of left ventricular ejection fraction: comparison with three-dimensional echocardiography. Ann Nucl Med 2008;22:723–726. Cerqueira MD, Weissman NJ, Dilsizian V, Jacobs AK, Kaul S, Laskey WK, et al.; American Heart Association Writing Group on Myocardial Segmentation and Registration for Cardiac Imaging. Standardized myocardial segmentation and nomenclature for tomographic imaging of the heart: a statement for healthcare professionals from the Cardiac Imaging Committee of the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association. J Nucl Cardiol 2002;9:240–245.