Intracoronary administration of autologous bone marrow-derived progenitor cells in a critically ill two-yr-old child with dilated cardiomyopathy.

DCM is the most common cardiomyopathy in childhood. Effectiveness of anticongestive therapy is limited in most cases and about one-third of children diagnosed with DCM die or receive heart transplantation within the first year after diagnosis. Cardiac stem cell transplantation has become a promising therapy to treat heart failure in adult patients. Based on these promising results, the cardiac stem cell therapy might also represent a new therapeutic option particularly in young children. The present case documents for the first time intracoronary administration of autologous bone marrow-derived progenitor cells in a critically ill two-yr-old child with severe heart failure caused by DCM. Because of progressive worsening of the clinical condition despite maximal anticongestive treatment, the decision to perform autologous stem cell therapy was made. Cardiac stem cell therapy proved to be technically feasible, was associated with improvement in cardiac function, and might represent an option before heart transplantation in children with severe heart failure.