Microstructural Impact of Ischemia and Bone Marrow-Derived Cell Therapy Revealed with Diffusion Tensor MRI Tractography of the Heart In Vivo

Background The arrangement of myofibers in the heart is highly complex and must be replicated by injected cells to produce functional myocardium. A novel approach to characterize the microstructural response of the myocardium to ischemia and cell therapy, using serial diffusion tensor MRI (DTI) tractography of the heart in vivo, is presented.