Therapeutic angiogenesis for patients with limb ischaemia by autologous transplantation of bone-marrow cells: a pilot study and a randomised controlled trial

Preclinical studies have established that implantation of bone marrow-mononuclear cells, including endothelial progenitor cells, into ischaemic limbs increases collateral vessel formation. We investigated efficacy and safety of autologous implantation of bone marrow-mononuclear cells in patients with ischaemic limbs because of peripheral arterial disease.We first did a pilot study, in which 25 patients (group A) with unilateral ischaemia of the...