Cardiac cell therapy (CCT) holds great promise as a regenerative medicine approach for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The first generation of CCTs tested various adult cell types, including skeletal myoblasts, bone marrow (BM)–derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs). More recently, the advent of induced pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) led to th...

Fifteen years after the birth of resynchronization therapy, this technique has become one of the recommended treatments in severe heart failure patients, with low ejection fraction (4 35%), and conduction disorders (ORS > or = 120 ms). Based on large randomized clinical trials, the European recommendation is class I type (level of evidence A), to improve symptoms and survival of this patient po...

In this issue of the Journal, Giraldi et al. (1) compare transvenous and epicardial lead placement in patients with unfavorable coronary sinus anatomy. Patients who met standard criteria for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) including left ventricular (LV) dysfunction, New York Heart Association class III to IV congestive heart failure, and left bundle branch block, who were on optimal me...

eart failure is the commonest cardiovascular disease that causes high morbidity and mortality. In a selected group of patients with evidence of electrical dyssynchrony, cardiac resynchronization therapy plus defibrillator backup (CRT-D) was established as an important adjunctive therapy. Numerous landmark trials demonstrated that such therapy improved clinical symptoms and quality of life, redu...

ardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective reatment for heart failure (HF) for patients who still have ignificant symptoms despite optimal medical therapy. any patients with HF have interventricular and intravenricular conduction delays that cause delayed activation of he lateral wall of the left ventricle (LV). This delayed ctivation leads to ventricular dyssynchrony, which comproi...