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Heart Disease and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

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What Medications Are Used to Treat Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?




Your doctor will discuss which medications are best for you.

What Surgical Procedures Are Used to Treat Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy?

Surgical procedures used to treat HCM include:

Septal myectomy. During this surgical procedure, the surgeon removes a small amount of the thickened septal wall of the heart to widen the outflow tract (the path the blood takes) from the left ventricle to the aorta.

Ethanol ablation. First, a cardiologist (heart doctor) performs a cardiac catheterization to locate the small coronary artery that supplies blood flow to the septum. A balloon catheter is inserted into the artery and inflated. A contrast agent is injected to locate the swollen septal wall that narrows the passageway from the left ventricle to the aorta. When the bulge is located, a tiny amount of pure alcohol is injected through the catheter. The alcohol kills the cells on contact, causing a small "controlled" heart attack. The septum then shrinks back to a more normal size over the following months, widening the passage for blood flow.

Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD). ICDs are suggested for people at risk for life-threatening arrhythmias or sudden cardiac death. The ICD constantly monitors the heart rhythm. When it detects a very fast, abnormal heart rhythm, it delivers energy to the heart muscle to cause the heart to beat in a normal rhythm again.

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