Stem cell transplantation and cardiac repair. A systematic review of its current and future status

After myocardial infarction, injured cardiomyocytes are replaced by fibrotic tissue promoting the development of heart failure. Stem cells are multipotent, undifferentiated cells capable of multiplication and differentiation. Preliminary experimental evidence suggests that stem cells derived from embryonic or adult tissues [especially bone marrow] may develop into myocardial cells. The overall clinical experience also suggests that stem cell therapy can be safely performed, if the right cell type is used in the right clinical setting. Preliminary efficacy data indicate that stem cells have the potential to enhance myocardial perfusion and/or contractile performance in patients with acute myocardial infarction, advanced coronary artery disease, and chronic heart failure. However, at the present time, the results have been mixed and inconclusive, and the mechanism of stem cell transplantation therapy remains unclear. This review discusses the controversies and problems that need to be addressed in future investigations

Long segment, one-step thoracoabdominal aortic stent grafting

To report a case of painful and voluminous, Crawford type 1 thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm, in a 87 years old man treated successfully with a long tube stent graft, using endovascular techniques, without any complication in the follow up. The proximal end was located just distal to the left subclavian artery, and the stent was placed to the region of the celiac axis

Urgent carotid artery angioplasty and stenting with distal embolic protection in acute stroke

To determine the feasibility and safety of emergent carotid artery angioplasty and stenting with distal embolic protection in acute stroke cases. We describe one patient that immediate balloon angioplasty and stenting of stenotic right internal carotid artery improved his neurologic symptoms completely and his clinical outcome was favorable. This therapeutic option may prove to be a useful means of treating a patient with acute stroke with ischemia in middle cerebral artery territory and acute cervical carotid stenosis. Emergency carotid artery stent placement can be considered as a therapeutic option in selected patients with acute ischemic stroke; however further studies are required to determine the effectiveness of this approach