Regenerative Medicine

Swaroop Bommareddi, MD, Joshua L. Hermsen, MD, Nahush A. Mokadam, MD, Ahmed Aly, Cameron Best

Key Points

  • Regenerative medicine strategies are still in their infancy in terms of clinical translation due to challenges with clinical study design, knowledge gaps and practical implementation.
  • Cardiosphere derived cells offer an alternative to bone marrow and early clinical application is promising, although studies show mixed results with respect to clinical efficacy.
  • The combination of stem cells with left ventricular assisted device implantation is thought to synergize the mechanical offloading and cardiac remodeling with anti-fibrotic nature of stem cells. Limited clinical trials have demonstrated safety, but have yet to show efficacy.
  • Great strides have been made in the clinical translation of gene therapy for chronic heart failure with many trials currently enrolling; early clinical results demonstrate safety with little therapeutic response.
  • Integration of innovations in basic cardiovascular biology paired with lessons from early clinical experiences will allow for optimization regenerative approach and clinical trial design.

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