Alcohol ablation treatment is typically used to treat some cases of the heart condition cardiomyopathy. Though the most common treatment involves taking beta blockers or calcium channel blockers, surgical treatment or alcohol ablation treatment can also be used. The Mayo Clinic has also used alcohol ablation treatment for other illnesses.
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiomyopathy occurs when the heart muscle becomes inflamed and ceases to function at an optimal level. One of various types of cardiomyopathy, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, occurs when the wall between the two ventricles enlarges and obstructs blood flow from the left ventricle. It is for this type of cardiomyopathy that alcohol ablation treatment is used. People with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy may experience sudden death at a young age. About half of deaths resulting from the condition happen during, or shortly after, the patient has performed physical activity, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Alcohol Ablation Treatment
Alcohol ablation treatment, or alcohol septal ablation, is a nonsurgical treatment for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. By injecting alcohol down a small branch of your heart arteries which feed the enlarged septum, doctors can deaden the extra heart muscle, allowing it to thin out rather than having to cut it out surgically.
Procedure
Though doctors provide the patient with medications for relaxation and pain reduction, the patient remains awake throughout the procedure. A temporary pacemaker is passed through a tube advancing to the right ventricle of the heart. The doctor passes a balloon catheter over a wire and guides it into the branch of the artery that provides blood supply to the enlarged septum. The doctor than inflates the catheter to block the artery and injects the alcohol. The balloon catheter is removed after about five minutes and the pacemaker is removed the following day.
Complications
Patients receiving alcohol ablation treatment often suffer chest pain as the doctor injects alcohol into the heart. According to the Harris County Hospital District, the most common serious side effect to the procedure is an abnormality called "complete heart block," which requires the patient to have a permanent pacemaker implanted. This occurs in about 15 percent of all patients who receive alcohol ablation treatment, HCHD states. Though rare, heart attack, irregular heart rhythm, bleeding, infection, allergic reaction to the dye, kidney failure, perforation of the artery, dissection of the artery and death may also occur.
Other Purposes
The Mayo Clinic has created an alcohol ablation treatment for recurring thyroid cancers. Doctors use this treatment mostly for patients with limited recurrence in the neck, either lymph nodes or the thyroid bed. In addition to avoiding surgery, this procedure can also treat tumors that cannot be treated with radioactive iodine, according to the Mayo Clinic.
