Generation of new cardiomyocytes after injury: de novo formation from resident progenitors vs. replication of pre-existing cardiomyocytes

Heart failure is the number one killer among all the cardiovascular diseases (1). Indeed, mortality of heart failure patients is high at first diagnosis and, sadly, poorer at 3-5 years after its onset (1). This negative outlook has been worsened by the increasing yearly incidence of new onset heart failure, which has now become truly epidemic worldwide (1). All heart failure treatments in use aim at improving symptoms with the exception of heart transplantation, the only curative treatment, with all its logistic and insurmountable limitations (1).