[One-year follow-up after echocardiographically-guided percutaneous septal ablation in hypertrophic obstructive...

Percutaneous transluminal septal myocardial ablation by alcohol-induced septal branch occlusion was introduced as a new treatment option in symptomatic patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. Echocardiographic monitoring of the procedure resulted in improvement of acute results. In this study we analyzed the follow-up after echocardiographic guided septal ablation.

100 consecutive symptomatic patients (50 men; age 52.7 +/- 15.7 years; NYHA class 2.8 +/- 0.6) underwent percutaneous septal ablation with echocardiographic monitoring. All patients had clinical and non-invasive 3-months and 1 year follow-up.

Acute reduction of the left ventricular outflow tract gradient was achieved in 99 patients from 76 +/- 37 to 19 +/- 21 mm Hg at rest, from 104 +/- 34 to 43 +/- 31 mm Hg during Valsalva maneuver, and from 146 +/- 45 to 59 +/- 42 mm Hg post extrasystole (p < 0.0001, each). Mean CK rise was 570 +/- 236 U/l. One patient died at day 2 due to fulminant pulmonary embolism following deep venous thrombosis, and 8 patients required a permanent DDD-pacemaker due to postinterventional complete heart block. During follow-up no further patient died. All living 99 patients showed clinical improvement to NYHA-class 1.4 +/- 0.6 after 3 months and 1.5 +/- 0.6 after 1 year (p < 0.0001, each). Non-invasive follow-up studies observed ongoing outflow tract gradient reduction, decrease of septal and left ventricular posterior wall thickness, and improvement of exercise capacity and time.

Percutaneous septal ablation is an effective treatment of symptomatic patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. During one-year follow-up remodeling after induced therapeutic septal infarction resulted in improvement of acute gradient reduction with ongoing symptomatic and objective improvement and without significant complications and side-effects.