Stem cell therapies in cardiovascular disease A "realistic" appraisal.

The possibility of reconstituting the damaged heart has introduced a new paradigm in cardiovascular biology and created the potential for a new therapeutic approach in the cardiovascular field, where there is a compelling need for innovative treatments. While the results of animal and early clinical studies are encouraging, the more direct use of cell-based therapies in patients is still long-reached. Gaps in our basic understanding of mechanisms, lack of important randomized, double blind, and controlled clinical trials, as well as technology development for cell production are among challenges to be overcome before full translation of cell based therapies in clinical arena. This review focuses on summarizing the latest knowledge in stem cell therapy for cardiovascular diseases.