BM harvesting procedures performed in a clinical trial investigating the effect of BM cell therapy in patients with severe peripheral artery disease were retrospectively studied (clinicaltrials.govNCT00371371). Patients underwent BM harvesting through the use of either a 15-gauge (n = 85) or an 8-gauge (n = 75) needle. The numbers of harvested white blood cells (WBC) and CD34+ hematopoietic cells (HPC) were quantified.
The amount of WBC per milliliter of BM aspirate was significantly higher when the 8-gauge needle (27.8 × 106 WBC/mL [95%CI 25.4–30.5 × 106]) was used compared with the smaller 15-gauge core needle (20.1 × 106 WBC/mL [95% confidence interval (CI), 18.7–21.7 × 106], P < 0.001). For the amount of CD34+ HPC, a similar pattern was observed (185 × 103 HPC/mL [95% CI, 161–213 × 103]; 114 × 103 HPC/mL [95% CI, 96–134 × 103]; P < 0.001).
The application of a BM aspiration device with a larger core diameter is associated with an increased cell density of the BM aspiration product in patients with severe peripheral artery disease.