Does intramyocardial injection of heart tissue-derived extracellular matrix improve postinfarction cardiac function in rats?
Implantation of heart tissue-derived decellularized matrix thickens the LV infarcted wall, prevents paradoxical LV systolic bulging, and improves LV EF after myocardial infarction in rats. This benefit was not dependent on the enhanced angiogenesis or the recruitment of endogenous stem cells to the injury site.
Operating time and hospital stay are increased when conversion is performed in two steps, but, in this small series, this strategy decreased morbidity and more specifically the rate of anastomotic strictures.