Abstracto

An update on translational and early trials in coronary interventions

AA Zachariah & RC Becker

Translational medicine, which at its core allows discoveries in the laboratory to be applied directly to patients with the ultimate goal of advancing care and changing clinical practice, is well represented within the field of interventional cardiology. Two areas of considerable interest for the scientific and medical communities, stem cell therapy and drug-eluting stents, are examples of fundamentally sound constructs for biologic and device technology respectively, that have experienced widely differing journeys from ‘bench-to-bedside’. Herein we review the progress made in these two areas, focusing on stem cell therapy applied to the settings of acute myocardial infarction and cardiomyopathy and the ever-present concern for clinicians of stent thrombosis following percutaneous coronary intervention.