Harvest, Isolation and Culture of Cardiac Stem Cells From Endomyocardial Biopsies

Heart failure is a devastating condition affecting nearly 6 million patients in the United States alone. Ischemic cardiomyopathy, or pump failure secondary to previous heart attack, is considered by many to be the leading cause of heart failure. Stem cell therapy, or regeneration of the lost myocardium, is an intervention that has the potential for reversing the detrimental effects of this disease. Recently published evidence has shown preliminary results indicating the safety and feasibility of utilizing cardiac stem cells for the treatment of ischemic cardiomyopathy. The ability to use a commonly practiced method, such as endomyocardial biopsy, to isolate and expand stem cell cultures could, potentially, make this therapy widely available. The results of this study will be important for the design of future clinical trials.