Left ventricular volume reduction surgery.

Left ventricular volume reduction has recently been introduced as a surgical treatment for end stage dilated cardiomyopathy. This operation involves the resection of a slice of viable left ventricular myocardium in order to reduce the wall tension imposed upon the contracting heart chamber. Early results are encouraging, but clinical evaluation on a larger scale is required. In the present article, we describe the indications, surgical principles and results of left ventricular volume reduction surgery with reference to our group's experience.