Twenty years of alcohol septal ablation document more than a history of a single interventional procedure

The first alcohol septal ablation (ASA) was performed in 1994. The concept of “therapeutic acute myocardial infarction” caused by application of concentrated alcohol into coronary artery is not quite unique since certain arrhythmias were treated in a similar way in the past; however, ASA has been discussed widely since its introduction and refused for many years by many cardiologists. Sufficiently robust data from long-term follow-up of patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy treated with ASA were obtained in the past few years only, demonstrating the safety and long-term efficacy of ASA. This article deals with a history of the above-mentioned interventional procedure, its indications, technical aspects, safety, and long-term results.