Myocyte growth in the failing heart

The objective of this article is to provide the reader with a new paradigm of the biology of the adult human heart. The recognition that primitive undifferentiated cells and lineage-committed cells are present in the normal and stressed myocardium strongly suggests that the heart belongs to the group of self-renewing organs. Additionally, the expression of telomerase in amplifying myocytes is enhanced in the overloaded heart, supporting the notion that a significant growth reserve exists in the myocardium. Myocyte hypertrophy is no longer the only form of cell growth in the pathologic heart.