Pathophysiology of Dynamic Cardiomyoplasty: A Clinico-Pathological Case Study

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Abstract
A 58-year-old man with end-stage ischemic cardiomyopathy underwent dynamic cardiomyoplasty. "On" and "off" studies with the cardiac assist device failed to show any significant hemodynamic changes despite improvement in functional status. The patient's late postoperative course was complicated by two episodes of acute pulmonary edema followed by cardiac arrest. These events were precipitated by ventricular tachycardia. The last episode led to myocardial infarction requiring diastolic counterpulsation and inotropic support. He died 4 1/2 months following the cardiomyoplasty. Postmortem findings revealed an anterior left ventricular infarct with aneurysm. There was fusion of skeletal muscle to the epicardium with minimal fibrosis and atrophy. The latissimus dorsi (LD) flap was viable, but myofibrillar ATPase stain revealed incomplete transformation. Several clinical observations have emerged from the early experience with dynamic cardiomyoplasty: (1) Important arrhythmias and cardiac arrest compromise the vascular supply and thus power of the muscular flap; (2) Resting ejection fraction does not correlate with exercise tolerance, therefore, other parameters must be sought to explain improved functional status; (3) Uniform muscle transformation in humans may be unpredictable with current clinical stimulation protocols. The conformation of LD to the epicardium underscores a potential remodeling phenomenon which may ultimately spare the diseased myocardium by altering its oxygen supply/demand ratio and thus the natural history.