The potential power output for skeletal muscle to provide cardiac assistance

It is clear that autologous skeletal muscle offers a potential power source, free of invasive tubes and wires and without the need for immunosuppressive or antibiotic therapy, with the capability of assuming at least 25% to 50% of the natural heart's workload. The application of this power source as either a heart wrap in CMP procedures or as an assist ventricle in SMV designs is not only possible, but in fact, reality in the case of CMP procedures. Optimization of these applications requires continued research, but offers renewed hope for patients with CHF who currently depend on indefinite pharmacologic therapy, the total artificial heart, or the too few donor hearts for transplantation.