Cell Therapy for Critical Limb Ischemia

P eripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common disorder and a major cause of morbidity and mortality.1 The most severely affected patients, with rest pain, ulcerations, or gangrene, are given a diagnosis of critical limb ischemia (CLI).These patients have a particularly poor prognosis, with high rates of limb amputation and mortality.Despite improvements in medical therapy for atherosclerosis and associated comorbidities as well as improvements in interventional and surgical techniques to improve limb perfusion, CLI continues to carry a major risk of limb amputation.2,3 A significant portion of patients with CLI are considered "no option" for revascularization, and no medical therapy has been shown to be capable of reducing the need for amputation.Therefore, novel therapies are needed to treat this disorder.