The use of adult stem cells from several sources has been shown to improve cardiac function in acute and chronic cardiac disease. Several sources of adult stem cells have been identified including bone marrow, skeletal muscle, blood and adipose tissue. A number of pilot trials using intramyocardial injection of stem cells have shown promising results in patients with chronic myocardial disease in patients with ischemic heart failure , and in patients after an acute myocardial infarction .~The vast majority of research on cell therapies in the treatment of heart diseases focuses mainly on determining the optimal source of cells, their characteristics, and the number of cells in the administered preparation. From a clinical perspective, the method of cell administration is also an important topic.~There are several ways of cell administration that can be used in cell therapy for heart muscle disease. In addition to the intramuscular administration systems, such preparations can be administered directly into the circulation in a more or less selective manner. As no dedicated devices were developed, various types of catheters and microcatheters have been used for transcoronary administration. During the procedure of administering cell preparations by means of a catheter directly to the selected coronary vessel, the flow parameters should be adjusted to minimize the risk of damage to the administered cells.~The CIRCULATE catheter tested in the experiment was designed to increase the efficacy and safety of the cells delivery. It has a reservoir and holes created through which - as shown in preclinical studies - the cells can be delivered without a risk of their damage during delivery.~In addition to the administration of cell therapy, the course of the study is planned to administer the drug - nitroglycerin - one of the most commonly used drugs for coronary administration, recommended during standard angiography of the coronary arteries due to its ability to expand the arterial bed, thus enabling accurate imaging and sizing of the examined arteries.
Clinical evaluation of the CIRCULATE catheter involves intracoronary administration of a typical medical agent (nitroglycerin) and a shown-to-be-safe cell-based agent (CardioCell) in patients with a diagnosis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).