[1] It is a percutaneous, minimally invasive procedure performed by an interventional cardiologist to relieve symptoms and improve functional status in eligible patients with severely symptomatic HCM who meet strict clinical, anatomic and physiologic selection criteria.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition of the cardiac muscle which grows abnormally thick in the absence of a pathophysiologic cause such as hypertension (high blood pressure) or aortic valve disease.
The technique creates a small controlled myocardial infarction, killing the area of heart muscle responsible for the obstruction, and eventually causing it to fibrose and become less thick.
[2] Since that time, it has gained favor among physicians and patients due to its minimally invasive nature, thereby avoiding general anesthesia, lengthy inpatient recuperation and other complications associated with open-heart surgery (e.g. septal myectomy).
[medical citation needed] Patients typically report progressive reduction in symptoms, including improved shortness of breath, lightheadedness and chest pain.
Despite initial concerns regarding long-term arrhythmic potential after alcohol septal ablation, the risk appears to be no worse than for surgical myectomy.