Cell-based regenerative therapy

Introduction

Interventional cardiology is a key player in the field of regenerative medicine; cell delivery to the heart is more advanced than to any other organ, which is partly due to interventional cardiology’s success in taking on the challenges of translational medicine. So, what has driven this partnership? Although primary angioplasty has transformed the outcome of acute myocardial infarction, the number of patients suffering with heart failure has doubled globally over the past 30 years. In Europe, 15 million people are living with heart failure 11. Dickstein K, Cohen-Solal A, Filippatos G, McMurray JJV, Ponikowski P, Poole-Wilson PA, Strömberg A, Van Veldhuisen DJ, Atar D, Hoes AW, Keren A, Mebazaa A, Nieminen M, Priori SG, Swedberg K, Vahanian A, Camm J, De Caterina R, Dean V, Funck-Brentano C, Hellemans I, Kristensen SD, McGregor K, Sechtem U, Silber S, Tendera M, Widimsky P, Zamorano JL, Auricchio A, Bax J, Böhm M, Corrà U, Della Bella P, Elliott PM, Follath F, Gheorghiade M, Hasin Y, Hernborg A, Jaarsma T, Komajda M, Kornowski R, Piepoli M, Prendergast B, Tavazzi L, Vachiery JL, Verheugt FWA, Zannad F. ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure 2008. Eur...