title: Arrhythmogenesis: a Roadblock to Cardiac Stem Cell Therapy.
abstract: Despite significant advances in the treatment of ischemic heart disease (IHD), it remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Undoubtedly, methods for regenerating the injured human heart are urgently needed, and whilst exciting progress has been made from utilizing stem cell therapy for cardiac regeneration, several major challenges still remain. In particular, one major safety issue is the occurrence of potentially life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias after cell therapy. Several drivers may be responsible for this, ranging from the potential inherent arrhythmogenicity of delivered stem cells to that of the underlying IHD. Therefore, it is imperative to thoroughly assess the risk-to-benefit ratio of such treatments prior to the clinical application. As such, despite the considerable progress made in stem cell therapy over the past decades, many obstacles still lie ahead.
authors: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors: Yen-Wen
authors: YW
authors: Liu
authors: Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.|Renal Division, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, Yun-Lin, Taiwan.
authors: Chi-Ting
authors: CT
authors: Su
authors: Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: Christopher Y T
authors: CY
authors: Yen
authors: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors: Li-Jen
authors: LJ
authors: Lin
authors: Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan. phsieh@ibms.sinica.edu.tw.|Institute of Medical Genomics and Proteomics and Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University and Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. phsieh@ibms.sinica.edu.tw.
authors: Patrick C H
authors: PC
authors: Hsieh
keywords: Cell transplantation; Heart regeneration; Stem cell; Ventricular arrhythmia