Can a Biohybrid Patch Salvage Ventricular Function at a Late Time Point in the Post-Infarction Remodeling Process?

A biohybrid patch without cellular components was implanted over large infarcted areas in severely dilated hearts. Nonpatched animals were assigned to control or losartan therapy. Patch-implanted animals responded with better morphological and functional echocardiographic endpoints, which were more evident in a subgroup of animals with very low pre-treatment ejection fraction (<35%). Patched animals also had smaller infarcts than both nonpatched groups. This simple approach could hold promise for clinical translation and be applied using minimally invasive procedures over the epicardium in a large set of patients to induce better ventricular remodeling, especially among those who are especially frail.
Competing Interests: This work was funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the RiMED Foundation, and the Italian Ministry of Education and Research (MIUR DOT1720429). Dr. Silveira-Filho was personally funded by FAPESP (São Paulo State Funding agency). The authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.
(© 2021 The Authors.)