[Dynamic cardiomyoplasty].

Abstract

The high prevalence of end-stage heart failure and its influence on the quality of life, force the medical community to seek effective therapeutic modalities. Heart transplantation is the accepted therapy for such patients, nevertheless, a significant percentage of patients do not reach transplantation due to the shortage of donors. Therefore, the establishment of surgical alternatives is very important. Dynamic cardiomyoplasty is accepted as an alternative to heart transplantation. In this technique skeletal muscle is wrapped around the heart and stimulated synchronously with the heart itself. We describe the present status of this procedure.