A myectomy is a muscle excision, or the surgical removal of all or part of a muscle. The procedure is performed to remove infected muscles, injured muscles or fibroids in muscles. The term "myectomy" is used as a root word to describe the specific muscle excision procedure. For example, a myectomy for uterine fibroids is called a myomyectomy. A septal mysectomy, or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treatment, is a myectomy performed on the septal muscle of the heart.
Myectomies are commonly performed on the heart, uterus and eyes. Although many patients show marked improvement in their condition after a myectomy, the effects of the surgery might include damage to surrounding nerve tissue and blood vessels; infection; pulmonary embolus, which is a blood clot in the lung; or thrombosis, which is a blood clot in the leg. Some patients might experience an allergic reaction to general or local anesthesia or, in very rare cases, suffer a stroke or heart attack.
The hypertrophic cardiomyopathy myectomy procedure is a form of open-heart surgery, performed when medication is no longer effective against symptoms. The surgeon removes a small portion of the heart, the septal muscle, that is preventing blood flow from the heart's left ventrical to the aorta, the large blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart. Research has shown that the overall risk of death after a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy myectomy is less than 1 percent in healthy patients.
A myomyectomy is the removal of uterine fibroids from the uterus and is often a successful alternative to a hysterectomy, which is the complete removal of the uterus. Uterine fibroids, or myomas, afflict nearly 30 percent of women and cause pain, miscarriages, infertility and abnormal bleeding that leads to anemia. Surgical risks include injuries to the surrounding organs, such as the bladder and bowel, uterine scars that might rupture during childbirth, infertility from scarring or infection of the reproductive organs. Still, a myomyectomy is the preferred method for women of childbearing age who have fibroids but want to bear children in the future.
The myectomy for blepharospasm is the surgical removal of the muscles in the eyelid or brow. This procedure relieves blepharospasm, the chronic, uncontrollable muscle spasms in the eyelid. In some cases, the eyelid might clamp shut, inhibiting the patient's vision. The myectomy for blepharospasm procedure was commonly performed before the introduction of botulinum toxin injections, a drug used to partially paralyze the muscle of the eyelid.