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Surgery for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a genetically determined cardiac disease characterised by otherwise unexplained myocardial hypertrophy of the left ventricle, and may result in left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. It is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults due to arrhythmias. Septal myectomy is a surgical treatment for HCM with moderate to severe outflow tract obstruction, and is indicated for patients with severe symptoms refractory to medical therapy. The surgical approach involves obtaining access to the interventricular septum via transaortic, transapical or transmitral approaches, and excising a portion of the hypertrophied myocardium to relieve the outflow tract obstruction. Large, contemporary series from centres experienced in septal myectomy patients have demonstrated a low early mortality of <2 %, excellent long-term survival that matches the general population, and durable relief of symptoms.

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Conflicts of Interest

James J. Wu, Michael Seco, Caroline Medi, Chris Semsarian, David R. Richmond, Joseph A. Dearani, Hartzell V. Schaff, Michael J. Byrom and Paul G. Bannon declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Correspondence to Paul G. Bannon.

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Wu, J.J., Seco, M., Medi, C. et al. Surgery for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Biophys Rev 7, 117–125 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-014-0153-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12551-014-0153-3

Keywords

  • Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
  • Septal myectomy
  • Alcohol septal ablation
  • Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction