Selection of Target Area for Interventional and Cell Therapy after Myocardial Infarction Using 3d Echocardiography

Abstract

Computerized 3D echocardiography could be an alternative in order to identify viable myocardium as target area for revascularization and cell therapy after myocardial infarction, especially when other imagistic techniques (SPECT, PET) are not available. Stem cell transplantation after myocardial infarction is an innovative therapy in order to save larger myocardial areas and to recover hibernated myocardium postinfarction. We studied 39 patients with acute myocardial infarction classified in three groups, according to the treatment performed. For all patients we used computerized 3D echocardiography to determine objective parameters for complex analyze of left ventricular contractility, synchronism and remodeling. Parameters determined were: contraction dis-synchronism between different segments, time delay until reaching the maximum contraction amplitude, maximum contraction excursion, ejection fraction at different segments, ventricular volumes in different moments of cardiac cycle.