Cardiac Regenerative Medicine and Cell-Based Therapies

This chapter critically reviews the current state and future prospects of cardiac regenerative medicine, including stem cell-based approaches, induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes, and extracellular vesicle and exosome therapies in the setting of ischemic heart disease and heart failure. It examines the biological rationale for myocardial repair strategies, the lessons learned from completed and ongoing clinical trials, and the persistent challenges of cell engraftment, paracrine signaling, and scalable manufacturing. The chapter also addresses the frontier of bioengineered cardiac tissue constructs, three-dimensional bioprinting, and gene therapy approaches as emerging translational modalities.