Intracoronary ALLogeneic heart STem cells to Achieve myocardial Regeneration (ALLSTAR): a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial.

Aims: Cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) are cardiac progenitor cells that exhibit disease-modifying bioactivity in various models of cardiomyopathy and in previous clinical studies of acute myocardial infarction (MI), dilated cardiomyopathy, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The aim of the study was to assess the safety and efficacy of intracoronary administration of allogeneic CDCs in the multicentre, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, intracoronary ALLogeneic heart STem cells to Achieve myocardial Regeneration (ALLSTAR) trial.

Methods And Results: We enrolled patients 4 weeks to 12 months after MI, with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤45% and LV scar size ≥15% of LV mass by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Effects of estrogen replacement with and without medroxyprogesterone acetate on brachial flow-mediated vasodilator responses in postmenopausal women with coronary artery disease.

Background: Hormone therapy has been shown to have no cardioprotective effect and may, in fact, be harmful in older postmenopausal women. Estrogen has been shown to enhance endothelial-dependent flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) in healthy and younger women. The effect of estrogen on older and less healthy postmenopausal women with atherosclerosis is unclear.