Solid organ and bone marrow transplantation were two of the most fascinating treatment modalities developed in the second half of the past century. At the turn of the 21st century the use of stem cells emerge as a potential therapeutic option for diseases previously thought to be irreversible. The promising results of animal studies paved the way for several groups all around the world to investigate the role of stem cell therapy in the clinical setting. The results of these clinical trials have been published over the last couple of years, most of which dealing with cardiovascular and neurological disorders. The results of the trials published thus far are encouraging (both animal and clinical) and suggest that there may be a real benefit with this therapy, yet we are still considerably distant from a reasonable understanding of the mechanism of tissue repair by stem cells. The present article will briefly review relevant aspects of the so called regenerative medicine, focusing on cardiovascular disorders.
Stem cell; cell therapy; cardiovascular disease
