title: Cell- and gene therapy for ischemic heart disease.
abstract: Despite advances in pharmacological therapies, cardiovascular surgery, use of mechanical assist devices, and organ transplantation, more than half of the patients with clinically evident heart failure die within 5 years of the initial diagnosis. The use of cellular cardiomyoplasty and gene therapy offer a promising approach for both the prevention and treatment of heart failure. This review will discuss the current state of these emerging fields and the prospects of introducing the methods into clinical practice. Since functional restoration of the damaged heart presents a formidable challenge, developing strategies for the prevention of post-infarct heart failure remains of utmost priority. New strategies to optimize cell delivery, homing and survival on the one side and safe and efficient application of gene therapy to the failing myocardium on the other side are indispensable in order to achieve myocardial recovery after acute infarction or chronic ischemic damage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria. nikolaos.bonaros@uibk.ac.at
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bonaros
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bernecker
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schlechta
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Kocher
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000628:therapy*; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation