Percutaneous transluminal ablation of the myocardial septum by embolization of the first branch of the anterior descending coronary artery using a small amount of absolute alcohol

Percutaneous transluminal septal myocardial ablation (PTSMA) is becoming more and more significant in the therapy of symptomatic patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). We report on the first successful PTSMA done in Yugoslavia in a 65-year old female patient with HOCM and in NYHA functional class III. The procedure was performed with infection of a relatively small amount of absolute alcohol (3 ml) in the first septal branch of LAD, and short duration of balloon inflation (3 minutes), with reduction of the left ventricular outflow tract gradient at rest from 88 mm Hg to 11 mmHg. The patient's in-hospital course was uneventful and has improved to NYHA functional class I.