Non-reconstructable peripheral vascular disease of the lower extremity in ten patients treated with adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction cells

•IM administration of autologous SVF in end-stage PVD patients is feasible and safe.•SVF enhances neovascularization in ischemic territories, improving tissue perfusion.•SVF in ischemic lower extremity shows promising clinical effects in claudication and wound healing.

We present a series of ten patients with non-reconstructable peripheral vascular disease (PVD), secondary to arteriosclerosis (AS) and/or diabetes mellitus (DM), treated with local injection of non-expanded autologous, adipose-derived stromal vascular fraction (SVF) cells for the purposes of enhancing neovascularization and chronic wound healing. Adipose tissue was surgically harvested and processed to yield the heterogeneous SVF cells for immediate point-of-care injection. The gastrocnemius muscles and ulcers or wounds where present were locally injected with the resulting SVF. Response to treatment was evaluated both clinically based on pain-free ambulation, wound healing capacity over time and ankle/brachial index (ABI) measurements, and by imaging using MRI-based angiography. All patients exhibited clinical improvement (reduction in rest pain and claudication and improvements in ABI), with imaging signs of neovascularization in the majority (5 of 6) of patients in whom the evaluation was feasible. Similarly, 5 of 6 chronic wounds healed without further surgical intervention. This series highlights the utility of non-expanded adipose-derived heterogeneous SVF cell population processed at the point-of-care, to treat patients with end-stage PVD as an alternative to palliation or amputation.