Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Q: How Alcohol septal ablation is performed for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM)? 


 Answer: Alcohol septal ablation is not very different in technique from regular coronary angioplasty except here artifical occlusion is performed! After localizing the the septal artery feeding the hypertrophied muscle, a small amount of absolute alcohol is infused into the artery to produce infarction. Resulting chest pain can be treated with analgesics and sedatives. About 5-10% of patients may require permanent pacemaker. 

This procedure should be performed by cardiologists with specific training in the procedure. This procedure is also called 'Sigwart procedure' as it was first performed by British cardiologist Ulrich Sigwart in 1994.

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