Myocyte transplantation for treatment of complete heart block.
We hypothesize that it may be possible to treat complete heart block by transplanting right atrial myocytes directly into the ventricular wall where they may set the rate of ventricular contraction at their own intrinsic rate. The biologic background for this conjecture has already been determined to a large extent. However, a few critical unanswered biologic questions must be addressed before the development of this suggested new therapy becomes a mere technologic exercise.
D000818:Animals; D006327:Heart Block / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006339:Heart Rate; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D011817:Rabbits; D012849:Sinoatrial Node / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation* / Q000648:ultrastructure