Effects of Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells Delivered through a Graft Vessel for Patients with Previous Myocardial Infarction and Chronic Heart Failure: An Echocardiographic Study of Left Atrium Function

Objectives The graft of stem cells to treat ischemic cardiomyopathy is popular in many clinical trials. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of isolated coronary artery bypass graft combined with bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMNC) delivered through graft vessels to improve left ventricular function of patients with previous myocardial infarction and chronic heart failure using echocardiography. Methods Forty-two patients with previous myocardial infarction and chronic heart failure were randomly allocated to one of the two groups: CABG only (18 in CABG group), or CABG with BMMNC transplantation (24 in CABG + BMMNC group). Echocardiographic parameters of systolic function were measured on B-mode imaging, tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), two-dimensional (2D) strain imaging, and 8 parameters were measured totally. Echocardiographic parameters of diastolic function were measured on pulsed-wave Doppler imaging, TDI, and 2D strain rate imaging; 17 parameters were measured totally. Results Postoperative left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) versus preoperative LVEF were 49.083 ± 1.914% versus 36.042 ± 1.185% (P