Editorial

Stem cell therapy has emerged as one of the most highly in-vestigated new therapies for cardiovascular disease. Given the enormous health care and economic burden imposed by congestive heart failure on the United States and worldwide, the primary objective of the vast majority of preclinical and clinical research in stem cell therapy for heart disease has been aimed at the recovery or regeneration of ischemic myo-cardium in adult patients. Less well studied, however, is the growing epidemic of pediatric heart failure. The causes of pediatric heart failure are not homogenous as mostly seen in adult heart failure but include multiple causes related to pressure and volume overload, dysrhythmias, and ischemia triggering ventricular dysfunction.1 On the basis of promis-ing early results in adult patients, the application of stem cell therapy to patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) could potentially offer a new treatment paradigm. Research effort