New prospects in the treatment of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

The MITERA Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory successfully performed its first alcohol septal ablation, a contemporary and minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of patients suffering from symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

This is one of the first times that this innovative technique is performed in Greece. The procedure was carried out by Dr. Angelos Rigopoulos, Interventional Cardiologist and Associate Specialist at the MITERA Cardiology Department, headed by Dr. Stylianos Tzeis, Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic condition of the heart muscle (myocardium), affecting 1 in 500 people in the general population. It is characterized by markedly increased left ventricular wall thickness (hypertrophy), more commonly involving the interventricular septum. Approximately, 70% of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy develop dynamic obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract with abrupt drop of the arterial blood pressure. This is usually linked with the appearance of several debilitating symptoms predominantly during physical exertion, such as dyspnea, fatigue, chest pain, palpitations and feeling of faintness.

Alcohol septal ablation is an alternative to surgery, a minimally invasive technique, which is performed in very few highly specialized centers worldwide, with a success rate of over 90%. The Department of Cardiology at MITERA General Hospital has a state-of-the-art infrastructure and clinical expertise that is necessary perform innovative and highly advanced procedures to treat patients with heart conditions and become a cardiac center of excellence in Greece.