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Cardiomyoplasty: transformation of the assisting muscle using intermittent versus continuous stimulation
C D Ianuzzo1, S E Ianuzzo, W A Anderson
1Deborah Research Institute, Browns Mills, New Jersey, USA.
Background:
Dynamic cardiomyoplasty has been shown to result in muscle damage and necrosis. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of intermittent versus continuous stimulation on the latissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) with and without surgical dissection.
Methods:
Surgically dissected and nondissected goat LDM were either stimulated continuously (24 hours/day) or intermittently (16 hours on/8 hours off/day) for 60 to 75 days.
Results:
The findings show that the continuous stimulation induced the most complete transformation of myosin isoforms and Ca2+ pump isoforms in the nondissected LDM, whereas, intermittent stimulation resulted in less muscle damage in the surgically dissected LDM. Intermittent stimulation of the dissected LDM resulted in larger fiber areas and a lower connective tissue concentration than did the continuous stimulation.
Conclusions:
It was concluded that surgically dissected muscle responds differently to electrical stimulation and that intermittent stimulation may result in less damage while transforming the LDM pedicle for use in cardiomyoplasty.