Despite optimal medical treatment, many individuals suffering from severe coronary artery disease are not suitable candidates for further revascularization. Therapeutic angiogenesis has attracted continuous interest to increase myocardial perfusion. Cell therapy using autologous stem cells expressing Cluster of Differentiation 34 plus (CD34+) offers a special therapeutic choice for individuals with refractory angina, seeing as CD34+ stem cells can restore microcirculation. We searched PubMed, PubMed Central (PMC), and Google Scholar to find the relevant articles to write this systematic review about the role of CD34+ stem cell therapy in the management of refractory angina. Additionally, we provided a brief explanation of CD34+ cells and their mechanism of action. Along with the positive finding of other trials, a recent open-label, single-center intracoronary CD34+ cell therapy for the treatment of coronary endothelial dysfunction in patients with angina and nonobstructive coronary arteries (IMPROvE-CED) clinical trial published in 2022 concluded improvement in coronary blood flow, a significant reduction in daily as-needed sublingual nitroglycerin use and improvement in Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) angina class were observed after autologous CD34+ cell treatment. In conclusion, refractory angina management and overall prognosis may be revolutionized once this treatment is approved.
Keywords: angina pectoris; cd34+ stem cell therapy; microvascular angina; refractory angina; stem cell transplantation.
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