CG: State’s unique case of alcohol septal ablation

Raipur. Raipur. A 32-year-old man suffering from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was given a new life by performing alcohol septal ablation procedure at the Advanced Cardiac Institute (ACI) located at Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Smriti Chikitsalaya. In this interventional treatment procedure led by Dr. Smit Srivastava, Head of Cardiology Department, an artificial but controlled heart attack was caused in the heart by injecting some amount of pure alcohol into the veins of the patient’s heart.

According to Dr. Smit Srivastava, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a hereditary condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick. Due to thickening of the heart muscle, it becomes difficult for the heart to pump blood. Usually this disease is not detected. Most people with such a condition do not have any symptoms. Some people may have problems like shortness of breath, chest pain or abnormal heartbeat.

Alcohol septal ablation is a non-surgical procedure for the treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Alcohol septal ablation is a procedure done with the help of a catheter. The catheter has a balloon at the tip. The technique is similar to coronary angioplasty except that a small amount of pure alcohol is injected into the artery under fluoroscopic (X-ray) and echocardiographic (ultrasound) guidance. The alcohol shrinks certain heart muscle cells, improving blood flow through the heart and to the body. The balloon is removed from the body after the procedure.