Role of stromal cell derived factor-1 in myocardial healing— novel insights from comparative studies in the fetal and postnatal myocardium

Myocardial infarction is the most important cause for chronic systolic heart failure in adults since the adult heart has negligible regenerative capacity implicating that every ischemic insult leads to loss of contractile tissue. On the other hand, chronic remodeling processes in the viable myocardium also contribute to the development of heart failure after myocardial infarction.