Fibrotic diseases cause annually more than 800,000 deaths worldwide, whereof the majority accounts for lung and cardiac fibrosis. A pathological remodeling of the extracellular matrix either due to ageing or as a result of an injury or disease leads to fibrotic scars. In the heart, these scars cause several cardiac dysfunctions either by reducing the ejection fraction due to a stiffened myocardial matrix, or by impairing electric conductance, or they can even lead to death. Today it is known that there are several different types of cardiac scars depending on the underlying cause of fibrosis. In this review, we present an overview of what is known about cardiac fibrosis including the role of cardiac cells and extracellular matrix in this disease. We will further summarize current diagnostic tools and highlight pre-clinical or clinical therapeutic strategies to address cardiac fibrosis.

中文翻译：

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心脏纤维化-原因和治疗策略的简短回顾。

纤维化疾病每年在世界范围内导致80万多人死亡，其中大多数是肺和心脏纤维化的原因。由于衰老或由于损伤或疾病导致的细胞外基质的病理重塑导致纤维化疤痕。在心脏中，这些疤痕通过降低由于心肌基质变硬而导致的射血分数降低或电导率降低而导致多种心脏功能障碍，甚至会导致死亡。如今，已知有多种不同类型的心脏疤痕，具体取决于纤维化的根本原因。在这篇综述中，我们概述了有关心脏纤维化的知识，包括心脏细胞和细胞外基质在该疾病中的作用。