Alcohol septal ablation is a non-surgical procedure to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. This is an inherited condition in which your heart muscle is abnormally thick. This procedure decreases your symptoms and reduces future complications.

You may have these tests before your Alcohol Septal Ablation:

• Chest X-ray
• Blood tests
• Echocardiogram
• Electrocardiogram (ECG)

Alcohol septal ablation uses a thin, flexible tube called a catheter. It has a balloon at the tip. Your doctor threads the tube through a blood vessel in your groin all the way to the artery that carries blood to your septum.

Your doctor then injects alcohol through the tube into the area where the heart is too thick. The alcohol is toxic and causes some of your heart muscle cells to shrink and die. The remaining scar tissue is thinner than the thickened heart muscle was before.

Blood is able to get past the thinned muscle and through the aortic heart valve. This improves blood flow through your heart and out to your body.

Your healthcare provider then deflates the balloon and guides the tube back out of your body.