The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Vascular delay and intermittent stimulation: keys to successful latissimus dorsi muscle stimulation.
The goal of this study was to obtain physiologically significant increases in peak left ventricular (LV) systolic pressure and stroke volume with latissimus dorsi muscle (LDM) stimulation in cardiomyoplasty (CMP). We hypothesized that preserving LDM integrity by vascular delay and intermittent stimulation would significantly increase LDM cardiac assistance. ⋯ VD and IS considerably increased the LV assistance with LDM stimulation. Further studies of this combined approach to CMP should be planned.