Treatment of a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy using mesenchymal stem cells

Abstract

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a common disease with a pessimistic prognosis. Heart transplantation is a radical method of treating DCM patients with severe chronic heart failure. But given the lack of donor organs, the development of new methods for the treatment of DCM is relevant. The use of stem cells in the complex treatment of patients with DCM according to the literature improves the results of treatment and is associated with an improvement of the systolic function of the left ventricle and normalization of the diastolic function of the left ventricle, a decrease of the functional class of CHF and an improvement of the life quality of such patients. The article presents a 3-year observation of a patient with dilated cardiomyopathy, who received cord blood mesenchymal stem cells as a treatment. Patient’s dilated cardiomyopathy was developed after a severe chronic myocarditis. The patient was examined by clinical and instrumental methods, including echocardiography, cardiac MRI with gadolinium contrast, ECG Holter monitoring, BNP study, 6-minute gait test, and the patient’s quality of life was assessed according to the Minnesota questionnaire. The prescribed drug therapy included torasemide at a dose of 20–10 mg/day, spironolactone at a dose of 25 mg/day, carvedilol 6.25 mg/day, ramipril 1.25 mg/day, dapagliflozin 10 mg/day, amiodarone 200 mg/day. After 5 months of drug therapy, a more significant effect was not observed. The patient was injected intravenously with a cell preparation of donor umbilical cord blood. During the study, there was a positive dynamic of the clinical condition, improvement of the contractile function of the left ventricle, improvement of the life quality. The patient was taken off the waiting list for a heart transplant. Patient’s observation continues.