A new approach to the assessment of outcomes of alcohol septal ablation in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a heterogeneous disease characterized by myocardial hypertrophy, without any other systemic or cardiac disorders and with predominant involvement of the interventricular septum. Approximately 25% of patients have a dynamic obstruction of the left ventricular output tract due its constriction and abnormal systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve. Therapeutic strategy for patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, who remain symptomatic despite drug therapy, includes surgery (septal myectomy) and non-surgical interventions, such as alcohol septal ablation. In the present study the possibility of cardiac MRI with contrast enhancement in the evaluation of the results of endovascular treatment hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and evidence for the benefits of this method in 25 patients with an obstructive form of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy after alcohol septal ablation are discussed.