title: Optimal branch selection in alcohol septal ablation.
abstract: Alcohol septal ablation is an emerging technique for the reduction of the subaortic gradient in hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. The selection of the branch to be ablated is not always obvious, however, and the use of Myocardial Contrast Echocardiography assists in the proper localization of the perfusion area of each branch. We present a case of alcohol septal ablation in a 78-year old woman, in whom the choice of the optimal branch for septal ablation was performed after careful evaluation of the echocardiographic images, in accordance with the angiographic appearance. Alcohol septal ablation was performed without complications and resulted in reduction of the subaortic gradient and improvement of the patient's functional capacity.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Toutouzas
authors.forename: Antonis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karanasos
authors.forename: Aris
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anastasakis
authors.forename: Manolis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vavuranakis
authors.forename: Hubert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Seggewiss
authors.forename: Christodoulos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stefanadis
authors.forename: Angelos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rigopoulos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002312:Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods; D000431:Ethanol; D005260:Female; D006346:Heart Septum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol