The hemodynamic function of intrathoracic skeletal muscle ventricles after recovery from surgery in pigs.

The shortage of donor organs for heart transplantation highlights the need for new approaches to end-stage heart failure. A promising experimental technique is the use of pumping chambers formed from the latissimus dorsi muscle. We formed such skeletal muscle ventricles (SMVs) and connected them to the descending thoracic aorta in a single surgical procedure in pigs. Activation of conditioned SMVs from the end of systole for 80% of diastole increased mean aortic diastolic blood pressure by 11.2 +/- 1.6% in 1 animal and by 15.8 +/- 0.3% in another. The left-ventricular stroke work in the postassisted beat was decreased by 8.7 +/- 5.8% and 10.1 +/- 2.2% and the overall stroke work by 7.4 +/- 1.2% and 9.4 +/- 0.8%. The key to forming and connecting the SMV in a single procedure was the use of a composite homograft lining. In future clinical practice, this component could be replaced by a synthetic composite or by a tissue lining produced in vitro.