Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar has successfully performed Odisha’s first Alcohol Septal Ablation procedure on a 35-year-old patient

The Cardiac Sciences Department of Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar has added another feather to its cap by performing a successful Alcohol Septal Ablation (ASA) procedure on a 35-year-old male patient. The patient presented with breathless on exertion, palpitation and chest discomfort for last two months.

Dr. Brajaraj Das, Senior Consultant, Department of Interventional Cardiology, Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar, who did the procedure, claimed that ASA has been performed for the first time in Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar and this kind of procedure is done for the first time in Odisha. The procedure is conducted to relieve symptoms and improve functional status in severely symptomatic patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Alcohol ablation or `Percutaneous Transluminal Septal Myocardial Ablation’ is a technical advancement that can improve the quality of life of patients suffering from a heart condition referred to as Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy (HOCM). HOCM often goes undiagnosed because many people with this disease have few symptoms, and if any symptoms exist, they can lead normal lives with no significant problems.

However, in a small number of people with HOCM, the thickened heart muscle can cause shortness of breath, chest pain or problems in the heart’s electrical system, resulting in life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias). Sudden cardiac deaths are a common feature in individuals whose family has a history of the disease, informed Dr. Das. Till now, there are only three modes of treatment available to HOCM patients, i.e., drugs, surgery and pace makers. But since the ablation technique was developed in 1994, it had become an alternative to surgery in patients who did not show improvement with drugs, he added.

Alcohol septal ablation is emerging as an alternative to surgical myectomy in the management of symptomatic cases of Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. This involves injection of absolute alcohol into first septal perforator thereby producing myocardial necrosis with resultant septal remodeling within 3-6 months. This results in reduction of septal thickness and LV outflow gradients with improvement in symptoms.

Alcohol septal ablation is a safe and effective nonsurgical procedure for the treatment of HOCM. By minimizing the amount of alcohol to ≤ 2 ml, one can reduce complications and mortality. The long-term survival is gratifying, opined Dr. Das.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition of the heart muscle which grows abnormally thick, in the absence of a physiologic cause such as hypertension (high blood pressure) or aortic valve disease. In a large subset of patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, thickening of the heart muscle in a particular part of the interventricular septum causes obstruction to blood being ejected from the left ventricle.

The patient has been discharged in good condition after post ASA with significant reduction of Left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) gradient (Reduce to 40 mm of Hg from 100 mm of Hg). It is basically an inherited cardiac disease and those who are diagnosed with such disease should opt for a heart check for their family, informed Dr. Das.

Mr. Sudhir M Diggikar, Regional CEO of Apollo Hospitals, Odisha & Chhattisgarh and Dr. Ashish Chandra, Director Medical Services of Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar congratulated Dr. Brajaraj Das. Apollo Hospitals, Bhubaneswar, being a leader in healthcare, has always set up new avenues for catering to the health requirements of society at large. It has brought state-of the-art and advanced medical technology and services to the people of the State, while striving to augment capacities of doctors, paramedics and medical workers, said Mr. Diggikar.

Apollo Hospitals is always in the forefront in introducing newer technologies, procedures and protocols to treat ailments effectively, economically and with lot of compassion, Dr. Chandra said and added that,” I am pleased that our consultants are continuously playing a pivotal role in providing the best possible treatment for the patients.”