Publisher's Synopsis
This special issue of Cells Tissues Organs contains a collection of state-of-the-art papers on cardiovascular regenerative medicine. Diseases of the cardiovascular system are the most frequent cause of death, a problem which will further increase due to aging demographics. Therefore, approaches to tissue engineering and regenerative medicine that have the ability to reconstruct functional healthy cardiovascular structures could have a major impact on health care delivery. Current concepts and approaches which have the potential to be critical components of the next generation of therapy to create or repair blood vessels and heart tissues are discussed in this issue. The focus is on cell sources for cardiovascular tissues, niche scaffolds, blood vessels and vascular networks, as well as engineered heart tissues. This publication is of special importance for scientist and physicians who are interested in vascular tissue engineering, artificial grafting, developmental biology, cardiovascular regenerative medicine, and surgery.
