Ebook: Stem Cells And Myocardial Regeneration

Over the past 5 years there has been great excitement and controversy in the scientific, financial, and lay literature for the potential of stem cell-based strategies for the prev- tion and treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF). Not that long ago we believed we were born with a set number of cardiac myocytes and that once damaged there was no hope to replace them. The interest in the field stems from the magnitude of cardiovascular disease in the world. Our ability to treat and help patients survive acute myocardial infarction (MI) has resulted in a near epidemic of CHF. There are more than 5 million Americans who currently carry the diagnosis of CHF. With more than 1 million MIs a year in the United States, there are approx 500,000 new cases of CHF diagnosed each year. The goal of Stem Cells and Myocardial Regeneration is to present, in a coherent manner, the current state of knowledge of stem cell-based therapies for cardiac dysfunction, including current findings in both the laboratory and the clinic trials. The first section of this Stem Cells and Myocardial Regeneration focuses on the magnitude of the problem and the successes and failures of what we consider optimal medical therapy. It is on this background that stem cell-based therapy needs to build.

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Stem Cells and Myocardial Regeneration is a comprehensive bench to bedside examination of stem cell-based therapies for cardiac dysfunction. The contributors, all leading researchers in their area of expertise, explore recent advances in the laboratory and in clinical trials. This volume emphasizes the near epidemic status of chronic heart failure (CHF) in the United States and abroad, and evaluates the level of success and failure of current optimal medical therapy. Specific attention is also given to both the basic cell types and pathways involved in cardiac stem cell research and the clinical issues that surround it.

Parts I and II of Stem Cells and Myocardial Regeneration examine various cardiac stem cell types, including hematopoietic, mesenchymal, and endogenous cells and critical physiological pathways, including chemokines, stem cell differentiation, and arrhythmia mechanisms. Part III focuses on clinical issues intrinsic to delivery of stem cells to the heart at the time of myocardial infarction (MI) and in patients with CHF. Part IV contains up-to-date reviews and analyses of the findings of stem cell-based clinical trials of acute MI and CHF. The concluding section presents a summary of cardiac stem cell research and outlines potential obstacles to future study.