alcohol septal ablation


alcohol septal ablation

A treatment for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy in which coronary artery catheterization is used to isolate the septal artery that supplies blood to the hypertrophied myocardium. Pure alcohol is injected into the artery, causing it to obstruct. The thickened heart muscle nourished by the septal artery is deprived of oxygen and dies. The procedure is a controlled and monitored myocardial infarction (heart attack), designed to eliminate the overdeveloped muscle blocking blood flow out of the heart. It is used in carefully selected patients as an alternative to surgical removal of the obstructing muscle (surgical myectomy).