Sixty-Year Evolution of Surgical Myectomy for Symptomatic Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy with Insights From the Historic NIH Surgical Experience to Present

Abstract

Since virtually from the modern conception of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the early 1960s, surgical septal myectomy has been the primary “gold standard” treatment to reverse drug-refractory heart failure symptoms by permanent and complete relief of left ventricular (LV) outflow obstruction.1,2 However, despite this long time period, myectomy studies have generally reported follow-up data over relatively short periods with few assessments of treatment outcomes across multiple management eras.3-5 Therefore, in this Viewpoint we have taken the unique opportunity to compare truly long-term survival outcomes of the historic surgical myectomy series of Dr.