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Ventricular septal defect (VSD) is an uncommon complication of penetrating heart injuries, but transcatheter closure has emerged as a new technique and is widely used worldwide. In spite of high success rate and minimal operative mortality, short-term follow-up post-operation and long-term follow-up post-operation have not been observed. In the present study, we report a case of cardiac injury after stabbing himself with a dagger. The patient was diagnosed with a post-traumatic VSD with left-to-right shunt and was transferred to theatre where the defect was successfully repaired. Seven days later, on echocardiography examination, an occluder closing the defect with no residual leak was revealed. During the extensive follow-up over 10 years, no complication of occluder break, translocation and thrombosis formation occurred.

Objective: Cardiosphere-derived cells (CDCs) improve cardiac function and attenuate remodeling in ischemic and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy, and are currently obtained through myocardial biopsy. However, there is not any study on whether functional CDCs may be obtained through cadaveric autopsy with similar benefits in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy. Methods: Cardiac tissues from human or mouse cadavers were harvested, plated at 4°C, and removed at varying time points to culture human CDCs (CLH-EDCs) and mouse CDCs (CM-CDCs). The differentiation and paracrine effects of CDCs were also assessed. Furthermore, intramyocardial injection of cadaveric CM-CDCs was performed in an induced dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) model. Results: With the extension of post mortem hours, the number of CLH-EDCs and CM-CDCs harvested from autopsy specimens decreased. The expressions of von Willebrand factor (VWF) and smooth muscle actin (SMA) on CDCs were gradually reduced, however, cardiac troponin I (TNI) expression increased in the 24 h group compared to the 0 h group. CLH-EDCs were also found to have similar paracrine function in the 24 h group compared to 0 h group. 8 weeks after CM-CDCs transplantion to the injured heart, mean left ventricular ejection fraction increased in both 0 h (64.99 ± 3.4%) and 24 h (62.99 ± 2.8%) CM-CDCs-treated groups as compared to the PBS treated group (53.64 ± 5.6 cm), with a decrease in left ventricular internal diastolic diameter (0.29 ± 0.08 cm and 0.32 ± 0.04 cm in 0 h and 24 h groups, vs. 0.41 ± 0.05 cm in PBS group). Conclusion: CDCs from cadaveric autopsy are highly proliferative and differentiative, and may be used as a source for allograft transplantation, in order to decrease myocardial fibrosis, attenuate left ventricular remodeling, and improve heart function in doxorubicin-induced non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.