Stem cell therapy for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction and chronic ischemic heart disease.

Chronic ischemic heart disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although revascularisation strategies and pharmaceutical therapy are able to delay ventricular remodelling, until today no therapeutic strategy is available that might prevent or even reverse this process of remodelling and consequent ventricular failure. In the recent past, experimental and clinical studies have demonstrated the capacity of bone marrow stem cells in cardiac repair and regeneration of compromised heart muscle.

Update on cardiac stem cell therapy in heart failure.

Purpose Of Review: Presentation of the current status of cardiac stem cell therapy for the treatment of ischaemic heart failure by highlighting recent clinical results and introducing ongoing trials. Furthermore, necessary upcoming procedural adjustments are discussed.

Recent Findings: During the last decade, stem cell application in the setting of ischaemic heart failure has been evaluated in phase I and II clinical trials, proving safety and feasibility of this approach.