The delivery methods used in cardiac stem cell therapy

Cardiac stem cell therapy is considered a promising alternative for the treatment of heart failure resulting from ischemic heart disease. Although short-term results demonstrate the beneficial effects of cardiac stem cell therapy on left ventricular functions and neovascularization, long-term effects have yet to be established. Various methods have been used for cardiac stem cell therapy, yielding varying degrees of success. However, the number of studies that compare the efficacy of these delivery approaches is still inadequate. Further studies are required to increase the efficiency of stem cell therapy, to delineate the pros and cons of different delivery techniques, and to provide more insight into identification, localization, and efficacy of transplanted cells within the target organ.

Keywords: Stem cell transplantation/methods, injections, intra-arterial; myocardial ischemia/therapy; neovascularization, physiologic; regeneration