Regenerative medicine - From stem cell biology to clinical trials for pediatric heart failure

Progressive heart failure in children and young adults is a serious problem, with an overall mortality of 7% in the United States [1]. In the past, the vast majority of children with heart failure had either cardiomyopathy or myocarditis, however, with improved surgical survival of high risk neonates with congenital heart disease, the incidence of heart failure due to structural heart disease has increased dramatically. There are critical differences in the response to injury between the young and the mature heart, where in the former the potential for regeneration is greater, in comparison to the more limited response in the older adult heart.
Source: Progress in Pediatric Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research