[Reverse remodeling by surgery - fact or fiction?]

Mortality of chronic heart failure in industrial countries remains unacceptably high despite advances in medical therapy. Heart transplantation, the gold standart in the treatment of end-stage heart failure is reserved for only a few patients because of the shortage of donor hearts. Surgical alternatives to transplantation include dynamic cardiomyoplasty (CMP), mitral valve reconstruction, left ventricular reduction surgery (PLVR) and ventricular assist devices (VAD). Improved survival and objective physiologic improvement have not been documented for CMP in the treatment of dilative cardiomyopathy. Mitral valve reconstruction of the other hand shows promising results. PLVR is an innovative procedure in which the heart is surgically reduced in size and cardiac function is dramatically improved immediately after surgery. The presence of long-term effects is still unknown. VAD have been shown to be extremely effective as a short- and long-term "bridge" to heart transplantation. They are not approved for permanent support. A randomized trial in the U. S. is underway to compare the efficacy of these devices with the efficacy of medical therapy in NYHA functional class IV patients in quality of life, survival and costs.