Bhubaneswar: The Cardiac Sciences Department of Apollo Hospitals, added another feather to its cap by performing a successful Alcohol Septal Ablation (ASA) procedure on a 35-year old man recently.
He had come to the hospital with complaints of breathlessness on exertion, palpitation and chest discomfort for the last two months. Dr. Brajaraj Das, Sr. Consultant, Department of Interventional Cardiology, who did the procedure said 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). It often goes undiagnosed because many people with the disease have few, if any, symptoms and can lead normal lives with no significant problems. However, in a small number of people with HCM, the thickened heart muscle can cause shortness of breath, chest pain or problems in the heart, resulting in life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms. Sudden cardiac deaths are a common feature in individuals whose family has a history of the disease, informed Dr. Das.
