A new surgical approach to augment the pumping ability of failed hearts is known as aortomyoplasty-a technique in which the latissimus dorsi muscle is wrapped around the aorta and stimulated during cardiac diastole to provide chronic diastolic counterpulsation. The authors hypothesized that the manner in which the latissimus dorsi muscle is wrapped around the aorta will determine the amount of augmentation during counterpulsation. In dogs (n=9), they measured the cardiovascular effects of different muscle wrap techniques. Their results suggest that muscle wrap orientation determines the amount of augmentation during aortomyoplasty, and a new muscle wrap technique provides greater augmentation than wrap techniques previously reported.
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