Coronary Heart Disease is most often treated surgically to improve heart function. But surgery cannot restore the viability of dead or damaged heart tissue (severely ischemic and/or necrotic myocardium). Using stem cells from autologous bone marrow (the patient’s own bone marrow), stem cell therapy aims to repopulate the ailing myocardium with cells that may restore contractility and blood supply. While more studies are ongoing, there is good evidence that subsets of bone marrow derived cells may be able to generate both functional cardiomyocytes and blood vessels.