Long-Term Effects of Surgical Septal Myectomy on Survival in Patients With Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to determine the impact of surgical myectomy on long-term survival in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). BACKGROUND: Left ventricular (LV) outflow tract obstruction in HCM increases the likelihood of heart failure and cardiovascular death. Although surgical myectomy is the primary treatment for amelioration of outflow obstruction and advanced drug-refractory heart failure symptoms, its impact on long-term survival remains unresolved. METHODS: Total and HCM-related mortality were compared in three subgroups comprised of 1,337 consecutive HCM patients evaluated from 1983 to 2001: 1) surgical myectomy (n = 289); 2) LV outflow obstruction without operation (n = 228); and 3) nonobstructive (n = 820). Mean follow-up duration was 6 +/- 6 years. RESULTS: Including two operative deaths (procedural mortality, 0.8%), 1-, 5-, and 10-year overall survival after myectomy was 98%, 96%, and 83%, respectively, and did not differ from that of the general U.S. population matched for age and gender (p = 0.2) nor from patients with nonobstructive HCM (p = 0.8). Compared to nonoperated obstructive HCM patients, myectomy patients experienced superior survival free from all-cause mortality (98%, 96%, and 83% vs. 90%, 79%, and 61%, respectively; p < 0.001), HCM-related mortality (99%, 98%, and 95% vs. 94%, 89%, and 73%, respectively; p < 0.001), and sudden cardiac death (100%, 99%, and 99% vs. 97%, 93%, and 89%, respectively; p = 0.003). Multivariate analysis showed myectomy to have a strong, independent association with survival (hazard ratio 0.43; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical myectomy performed to relieve outflow obstruction and severe symptoms in HCM was associated with long-term survival equivalent to that of the general population, and superior to obstructive HCM without operation. In this retrospective study, septal myectomy seems to reduce mortality risk in severely symptomatic patients with obstructive HCM.