From December 1996 to May 2001, we have performed 82 cases of left ventriculoplasty (LVP) for nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Surgical procedure was partial left ventriculectomy in 70 patients and septal anterior ventricular exclusion in 12 patients with evaluation by utilizing intraoperative echocardiography. There were 70 men and 12 women with a mean age of 49, varying from 14 to 76. All patients had medically refractory heart failure with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Class III in 33 patients and NYHA IV in 49; 34 patients were supported by inotropic infusion prior to the operation. Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) and left ventricle assist device (LVAD) were used in 12 and 2 patients at perioperative period, respectively. Hospital mortality was 8.2% in elective operation (5/61), 57.1% in emergency operation (12/21), and 20.7% overall. One- and four-year survival rates were 75.5% and 69.3% in elective cases, 37.9% and 0 in emergency cases, and 64.7% and 3.6% overall, respectively. Left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction increased from 22.3% to 29.0% at the time of surgery and has maintained around 33% up to two years. LV diastolic dimension and LV end diastolic pressure decreased from 83.8 mm to 65.0 mm; from 31.7 mmHg to 22.0 mmHg have maintained around 70 mm and 22.1 mmHg up to two years, respectively. Over one year most of the survivors were medically controlled within NYHA Class I-II. In conclusion, careful choice of surgical procedure by utilizing intraoperative echocardiography enables left ventriculoplasty to effectively treat severe heart failure with nonischemic cardiomyopathy.