Cor Vasa 2009, 51(10):717-719 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2009.175

The effect of the "CorCap Cardiac Support Device" on left ventricular remodeling: one-year follow-up of the first IKEM patient

Ondrej Szárszoi^1,3,*, Ivan Netuka^1,3, Jiří Malý^1,3, Josef Bešík^1,3, Ivo Skalský¹, Hynek Říha^2,3, Tomáš Kotulák², Jan Pirk^1,3

¹ Klinika kardiovaskulární chirurgie

² Klinika anesteziologie a resuscitace, Institut klinické a experimentální medicíny

³ Centrum výzkumu srdce a cév, Praha, Česká republika

Surgical intervention is an option for treating the remodeled and dilated left ventricle of the patient with heart failure. The CorCap cardiac support device (CSD) is a mesh fabric device that is implanted around the heart and presents a new option in the surgical treatment of the failing heart. The objective of this case report was to introduce the method and to evaluate the effect of implantation of CorCap CSD in the first patient at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine (shortly IKEM in Czech). The patient (64 years old) with dilated cardiomyopathy, in NYHA class III and with significant mitral regurgitation, was treated with annuloplasty of the mitral valve and CorCap CSD implantation. Left ventricular ejection fraction, diameters and volumes, and dP/dt were measured by echo-cardiography during the first year after operation. Our combined procedure led to a marked decrease in left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes, left ventricular diameter, increase in ejection fraction and improvement of dP/dt. Quality of life and NYHA functional class were also improved. We can conclude that CorCap CSD implantation together with mitral valve surgery has a long-term beneficial impact on left ventricular size and function of the failing heart, and physicians should consider offering this combined procedure to patients with heart failure.

Keywords: Heart failure; Surgical management; Implantable cardiac support devices

Published: October 1, 2009  Show citation