SNOWMASS, Colo., March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Howard Leonhardt of Bioheart, Inc., and Leonhardt Ventures will be presenting his team's experience with stem cell transplantation at the 28th Annual International Symposium of Interventional Cardiology. The conference, which will explore a comprehensive approach to the percutaneous management of structural heart disease and coronary and peripheral vascular disease, will be held at the Westin Hotel in Snowmass Village, Colo., from March 24 - 29, 2013. Leonhardt's presentation, titled "25 Years' Experience With Myoblast Transplantation" and listed as Oral Abstract Session VI in the program, will take place Thursday, March 28, from 7 - 10 a.m.

Over the past 25 years, Bioheart's research and trials in stem cell transplantation for treating heart failure have revealed the following:

For more information on the 28th Annual International Symposium of Interventional Cardiology, see http://www.interventionalcardiol.com. To learn more about Bioheart's advances in regenerative medicine, visit http://www.bioheartinc.com.

About Leonhardt Ventures: Since 1983 Leonhardt Ventures http://www.leonhardtventures.com has a strong history of inventing, developing, backing and bringing to market leadership products for treating heart and cardiovascular disease. Over 200,000 patients have been treated to date with Leonhardt inventions. In the 1980s, the group developed market leadership in patented polyurethane balloon catheters including drug, stem cell and radiation delivery systems. In the 1990s, they developed over 20 additional devices including the first commercially successful stent graft for aortic aneurysm repair (TALENT Taheri-Leonhardt Stent Graft). The team completed the first ever truly percutaneous repair of an aortic aneurysm without surgery in Melbourne, Australia, in 1995, and published the first paper on thoracic aortic dissection repair with stent grafts in The New England Journal of Medicine in 1999. Other firsts for the team include the first conformance-sealing stent graft, the first above renal fixation stent graft, the first customized-to-fit individual patient stent grafts, the first multi-stage low-profile stent graft, the first removable stent graft, the first foam and bioglue sealing cuff for stent grafts, and the first use of muscle stem cells to reinforce aortic wall necks after stent graft placement. The team developed and patented the first percutaneous heart valve, intravascular lung catheter, the Pro-Cell intracavity stem cell delivery system and the MyoCath line of stem cell delivery catheters. Leonhardt-patented inventions include the first heart pacemaker able to recruit repairative stem cells to damaged heart tissue (MyoStim Pacers). In 2001, the team led the world's first non-surgical case of stem cell repair of damaged heart muscle in a human patient with Bioheart MyoCell. That led to the first Phase III double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial for stem cells growing new contractile muscle in post-heart-attack tissue in advanced heart failure patients, with results published in the American Heart Journal: Bioheart MyoCell resulted in 95.7 meters improvement in exercise capacity over placebo (minus 4 meters decline). The team is preparing to complete the first-ever biological pacemaker implantation in a human patient within the next 12 months (BioPace).

About Bioheart, Inc.Bioheart is focused on completing its Phase II/III MARVEL study for MyoCell in treating advanced heart failure. The product candidate has been in clinical trials since May 2001. The company believes, after 10 years of clinical trials that followed pre-clinical studies dating to 1988, that it may be on the final leg toward qualifying to apply for a biologics license-approval FDA panel review. Approximately 130 more patients are needed in the randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled MARVEL Phase II/III Part II study. MyoCell is a clinical muscle-derived stem cell therapy designed to populate regions of scar tissue within a patient's heart with new living cells for the intended purpose of improving cardiac function and quality of life in chronic heart failure patients.

For more information on Bioheart, visit http://www.bioheartinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: Except for historical matters contained herein, statements made in this press release are forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "may," "will," "to," "plan," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "would," "estimate," or "continue" or the negative other variations thereof or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Also, forward-looking statements represent our management's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date hereof. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

The Company is subject to the risks and uncertainties described in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Qs.

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Howard Leonhardt to Present 25 Years of Experience With Stem Cell Transplantation at 28th Annual Interventional ...