Evidence for the Existence of Resident Cardiac Stem Cells

The heart has traditionally been considered a terminally differentiated organ. In the past 10 years, though, this paradigm has been challenged and proved questionable, starting from the evidence of cycling myocytes in the adult heart, both in physiological and in pathological conditions. In addition, the discovery and isolation of cells from the adult heart with progenitor-like and stem-like features has started a new field of research. These topics are reviewed in this chapter