Left ventricular splints and wraps for end-stage heart failure: a new approach in the new millennium.

The epidemic of heart failure and its subsequent effect on public health policy is escalating. Cardiac transplantation continues to be limited by the shortage of donor organs, and the current generation of mechanical circulatory support devices has not yet approached the goal of destination therapy. A better understanding of the role of left ventricular remodeling in the development of heart failure has resulted in novel surgical therapies and devices that may reverse or retard the remodeling process.