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Bacterial Infection of Cardiomyostimulator Abdominal Pocket Following Cardiomyoplasty Procedure: An Original Approach to Preserve Synchronous Muscle Stimulation
Author(s) -
Lorusso Roberto,
Curnis Antonio,
Struble Chester,
Sandrelli Luca,
Alfieri Ottavio
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
journal of cardiac surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.428
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1540-8191
pISSN - 0886-0440
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8191.1995.tb00624.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiomyoplasty , complication , refractory (planetary science) , surgery , heart failure , stimulation , cardiology , physics , astrobiology
A bstract Dynamic cardiomyoplasty (DC) represents a new technique in therapy for refractory heart failure. So far, DC has been applied to more than 500 cases worldwide but reports on postoperative complications and related management are still lacking. We present the case of a patient suffering from refractory chronic heart failure for which the DC procedure was applied also accompanied by the complication of an infection process at the cardiomyostimulator pocket that began 2 weeks postoperatively. Following trials with several unsuccessful conservative approaches, an original procedure was developed to temporarily retain the implanted stimulation system, while at the same time maintain the synchronous contractions of the wrapped muscle. Finally, reimplantation of the pacing system was achieved with a low‐risk procedure, effective cardiac assistance was preserved, and the infection process was arrested 3 years following DC.