ISSN: 2157-7013
Christopher Sequeira, Ki Park, Carl J. Pepine and Christopher R. Cogle
Adult stem and progenitor cells have shown reparative potential in pre-clinical models of ischemia and infarction. These discoveries in conjunction with increased incidence and prevalence of heart disease and few new classes of pharmacologic agents for cardiovascular disease have paved the way for numerous clinical trials of stem and progenitor cell therapy for acute myocardial infarction and congestive heart failure. Nearly all trials have demonstrated safety and feasibility of stem cell therapies for cardiovascular disease. Many have shown that injected cells result in improved clinical outcomes. The future of cell therapy for heart disease will involve questions pertaining to timing of therapy, cell population utilized, imaging techniques to assess efficacy and methods of cell delivery.