[Alternatives to heart transplantation]

This paper is about the alternatives of curing the drug-refractory heart failure with the exception of cardiac transplantation. It includes even the newest methods mostly being in the phase of animal experiment in the meantime. The authors give a review on the different possibilities of skeletal muscle autotransplantation for cardiac support, such as cardiomyoplasty which has already been done in Hungary too, externally powered mechanical devices for long-term support, molecular and cellular cardiomyoplasty. The partial ventriculectomy and transmyocardial laser revascularization are mentioned as well. Although, most part of the enumerated procedures is not available in Hungary at this time, they are expected to enter the arsenal of medicine in the future.