[Dynamic cardiomyoplasty]

Dynamic cardiomyoplasty is a surgical procedure that uses electrically stimulated skeletal muscle to augment left ventricular function in the treatment of chronic heart failure. This procedure has been performed in more than 1000 patients worldwide since the first clinical trial in 1985. Despite the lack of evidence that it improves long-term survival, this procedure remains a promising alternative in the treatment of end-stage heart failure, as it improves patients' functional status and quality of life score in 75-80% of survivors. This review comprises data from multicenter studies from a worldwide database (Medtronic Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty Clinical Database 1996) and from a randomized clinical trial and seeks to update the current clinical results of dynamic cardiomyoplasty and to describe the clinical role of this procedure.