Alcohol Septal Ablation
Alcohol septal ablation thins a thickened septum (wall between your heart chambers). If you have this condition, called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the thickened tissue blocks blood flow out of your heart. Your doctor may refer you to the Adventist HealthCare Heart & Vascular Institute at White Oak Medical Center for this treatment, which restores healthy blood flow.
Do I Need Alcohol Septal Ablation?
You may benefit from this procedure if you don’t qualify for open-heart surgery to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Alcohol septal ablation is much less invasive than surgery, so it carries a lower risk of side effects and leads to a faster, easier recovery.
How Can Treatment Help Me?
Alcohol septal ablation can relieve symptoms such as:
- Chest pain
- Fainting or lightheadedness
- Fatigue
- Heart murmur
- Heart palpitations
- Shortness of breath
What to Expect
You’ll lie on a table while an interventional cardiologist makes a tiny incision over an artery in your upper thigh or wrist. The doctor inserts a thin, flexible tube called a catheter and guides it up to your heart. There, the physician injects a little bit of alcohol into an artery that sends blood and oxygen to the thick heart tissue. The alcohol cuts off the tissue’s blood supply, shrinking it. As the tissue shrinks, blood begins to flow more freely out of your heart.
Alcohol septal ablation usually takes less than two hours.
Recovery
You’ll need to stay in the hospital for two or three days. Your doctor and nurses will monitor your health and make sure you heal well. When you’re ready to leave, you’ll receive instructions on how to take care of yourself at home, along with referrals for home care or cardiac rehabilitation, if necessary. You’ll also make a follow-up appointment with your cardiologist.
