Fig. 1.
Experimental protocol. Following baseline measurements, swine were subjected to a 60-min occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) in the closed-chest state. In global infusion of CDCs (top), animals were randomized to receive either allogeneic CDCs (total amount of 20 × 106 with ~7 × 106 in each of the 3 major coronary arteries) or saline infused into each of the 3 coronary arteries, with study personnel blinded to all aspects of the protocol. In stop-flow regional infusion of CDCs (bottom), animals received allogeneic CDCs (total amount of 10 × 106) in the LAD region during the inflation of an over-the-wire balloon catheter. At 2 days and 1 mo after reperfusion, multidetector computed tomography imaging of infarct size, echocardiography, and hemodynamic analysis were repeated. Hearts were excised for postmortem assessment of infarct size, myocyte morphometry, myocyte proliferation, and myocyte apoptosis. See text for additional details. AMI, acute myocardial infarction; CDCs, cardiosphere-derived cells.