title: Angiogenesis for the treatment of inoperable coronary disease: the future.
abstract: Improved treatment options and better management of cardiovascular risk factors have resulted in improved outcomes for patients suffering from severe coronary artery disease. However, coronary artery disease may be of such a diffuse and severe manner that repeated attempts at catheter-based interventions and coronary artery bypass grafting may be unsuccessful at restoring normal myocardial blood flow. It is the goal of therapeutic angiogenesis to restore perfusion to chronically ischemic myocardium using protein growth factors, gene therapy, or, more recently, cell-based therapy, without intervening on the epicardial coronary arteries. However, angiogenesis has not yet provided significant clinical benefit and is still reserved as an experimental treatment for patients who have failed conventional therapies. Once potential endogenous inhibitors of vascular development can be modified, angiogenesis may become more useful for therapeutic purposes. It is hoped that angiogenesis for therapeutic purposes will one day effectively re-create the potent natural processes of vascularization that every human being undergoes during growth and development and become a major modality for the treatment of coronary artery disease.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA. fsellke@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Frank W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Sellke
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laham
authors.forename: Erik J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Suuronen
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ruel
mesh_terms: D042501:Angiogenic Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005544:Forecasting; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D042501:Angiogenic Proteins; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2