The Effect of Intramyocardial Injection of Mesenchymal Precursor Cells on Myocardial Function in LVAD Bridge to Transplant Patients

Congestive heart failure is a major health problem and recent estimates indicate that end-stage heart failure with a 2-year mortality rate of 70-80% affects over 60,000 people in the United States each year. For these patients, treatment options are extremely limited. Less than 3,000 heart transplants are available each year because of the severely limited supply of donor hearts. Implantable LVADs, routinely used to support heart transplantation patients who decompensate awaiting a donor heart, were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002 for long-term support when heart transplantation is not an option. Few patients, however, achieve sufficient recovery to warrant LVAD explantation and those who do must still contend with ventricular dysfunction. MPCs are normally present in human bone marrow and have been shown to increase the development of blood vessels and new heart muscle cells. The purpose of this study is to determine the safety of injecting MPCs into the heart during LVAD implantation surgery. In addition, this study will examine whether injecting MPCs into the heart is effective at improving heart function.

This study will enroll people who are on the waiting list to receive a donor heart and who are undergoing LVAD implantation surgery. Before the surgery, participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group of participants will have MPCs injected into their heart during LVAD surgery and the other group of participants will have a control solution (placebo) injected into their heart during the surgery. A portion of heart muscle removed during the surgery will be analyzed. Participants will be monitored by study researchers and blood samples will be collected 12 hours after the LVAD surgery and at 1, 7, 21, 60, and 90 days after the surgery. After that, a medical history review, physical examination, and blood collection will occur every 60 days until a heart transplant occurs or until 12 months after the LVAD implantation, whichever comes first. Heart function testing, which will include an echocardiogram, neuronal function testing, and a 6-minute walk test, will occur 60 and 90 days after the LVAD implantation, and every 2 months thereafter until a heart transplant occurs or until 12 months after the LVAD implantation, whichever comes first.