Yong Cui · HCM surgery · Decision guide
A 4–5 cm underarm incision keeps the breastbone intact: no divided breastbone to heal while you rebuild walking and everyday activity.
Yong Cui’s team removes the muscle obstructing blood flow through a 4–5 cm incision beneath the right arm. The breastbone stays intact, avoiding the bone-healing phase of a sternotomy. Estimated programme cost: $25,000–40,000 USD.
A 4–5 cm underarm incision preserves the sternum. Recovery avoids the bone-healing phase associated with splitting the breastbone.
Sources: MESM: 100-patient observational study · Guy’s and St Thomas’: breastbone healing and movement after heart surgery
Mean pressure gradient across the obstructed outflow fell to 8.4 mmHg in the 100-patient MESM study, showing marked relief of the blockage.
Estimated programme cost in Hangzhou; the final quotation reflects the operation and included care.
Programme operations · Cumulative; counting cutoff not stated
HCM myectomy programme using an underarm route that preserves the breastbone.
MESM programme / Yong Cui ↗ · source read 2026-10-08Programme operations · Cumulative; counting cutoff not stated
Minimally invasive heart operations across conditions since 2018; this is broader than HCM.
Yong Cui practice overview ↗ · source read 2026-10-08Programme operations · Calendar year 2024 · published 2025-01-31 · counting date 2024-12-31
Right infra-axillary modified-Morrow myectomies. This technique-specific count is a minimum for the programme’s total myectomy activity; other approaches are not included.
心有“勇”术｜崔勇：寻道创新，微步致远 ↗ · source read 2026-10-08
Minimally invasive electro-septal myectomy (MESM)
$25,000–40,000 estimated cost
USD · estimated programme range · updated 8 October 2026.
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Obstructive HCM with symptoms attributable to restricted outflow despite appropriate medical treatment. The operation is selected from the location of obstruction, septal thickness, mitral-valve geometry and supporting structures; some patients need additional valve or papillary-muscle correction.
Sources: 2024 AHA/ACC HCM guideline — ACC summary · MESM: 100-patient observational study · MESM: minimally invasive electro septal myectomy
The practical advantage is more than a smaller scar: the sternum is not divided. After a sternotomy, everyday movements such as pushing out of a chair, lifting a shopping bag or getting out of bed have to take the healing breastbone into account.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ describes about three months for full breastbone healing after sternotomy and gives different movement guidance for approaches between the ribs. Preserving the sternum removes that bone-healing step; the incision and the heart still recover gradually.
| Recovery detail | Sternotomy | Cui’s planned underarm MESM access |
|---|---|---|
| Breastbone | Divided and secured after surgery; bone healing continues over the following months. | Left intact; no sternotomy bone wound to heal. |
| Everyday upper-body movement | Movement and lifting guidance protects the healing sternum. | No divided sternum to protect; activity progresses with wound comfort and the clinical recovery plan. |
| Incision and scar | An incision along the front of the chest. | A 4–5 cm incision beneath the right arm in the published MESM series. |
Sources: MESM: 100-patient observational study · Guy’s and St Thomas’: breastbone healing and movement after heart surgery · Mayo Clinic: minimally invasive surgery
Sources: MESM: 100-patient observational study · Guy’s and St Thomas’: breastbone healing and movement after heart surgery
Sources: MESM: 100-patient observational study · Infra-axillary myectomy: earlier 148-patient study
Sources: 2024 AHA/ACC HCM guideline — ACC summary · MESM: 100-patient observational study
$25,000–40,000 estimated cost
Estimated programme cost: $25,000–40,000 USD. The final quotation specifies the planned operation, hospital care and any additional procedures.
The treatment pathway combines HCM imaging and operative planning, myectomy, specialist anaesthesia, monitored hospital care and nursing support. The quotation defines the included stay, additional procedures and follow-up.
| Care / cost item | Published care and cost scope |
|---|---|
| Diagnostics and operative planning | Echocardiography locates the obstruction and assesses the mitral valve and supporting structures; additional imaging refines the plan when needed. |
| Surgery and hospital care | Myectomy, anaesthesia, rhythm and blood-pressure monitoring, nursing and gradual mobilisation form the clinical pathway. |
| Estimated programme cost | $25,000–40,000 USD. The final quotation itemises hospital nights, any additional valve work, interpretation and follow-up. Travel and accommodation are specified separately. |
Sources: 2024 AHA/ACC HCM guideline — ACC summary · MESM: 100-patient observational study
Sources: MESM: 100-patient observational study · MESM: minimally invasive electro septal myectomy
Sources: AATS 2026: Cui MESM for mid-cavity obstruction · Mayo Clinic: minimally invasive surgery
Among consecutive patients treated in November 2023–May 2024, mean LVOT gradient fell from 85.8 to 8.4 mmHg. All operations used the planned small incision; four patients required a permanent pacemaker and no in-hospital deaths were observed.
100 consecutive patients at one centre, November 2023–May 2024; outcomes measured early after surgery. The study reports no in-hospital deaths and four permanent pacemakers.
Cui presented patients with mid-cavity obstruction treated in November 2023–August 2025. Mean mid-cavity gradient fell from 85.4 to 8.5 mmHg; 123 patients (93.2%) were extubated in the operating room.
Conference abstract, not a full journal cohort report. Patients may overlap the 100-patient study; the counts cannot be added. Pacemaker incidence was not provided.
The earlier 148-patient modified-Morrow study reported a median ICU stay of 20 hours and mean postoperative hospital stay of 9.7 days, with eight permanent pacemakers and one in-hospital death.
This September 2021–July 2023 cohort used an earlier technique. Its hospital stay is a historical study result, not the current MESM programme schedule.
With the planned underarm access, the sternum remains intact. That means there is no divided breastbone to knit together or sternotomy wound to protect while recovering. Walking builds progressively as pain control, breathing and strength improve. Discharge, longer walks, driving and flying each have their own readiness criteria; the plan follows the actual operation and your progress.
Sources: MESM: 100-patient observational study · Guy’s and St Thomas’: breastbone healing and movement after heart surgery · Mayo Clinic: minimally invasive surgery
The AATS biography records a clinical fellowship at the Mazankowski Heart Institute, University of Alberta, Canada, from July 2010 to December 2012, and leadership of cardiovascular surgery at Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital from October 2015.
Cui presented the mid-cavity MESM series at AATS in 2026. ESC lists his MESM presentation at its 2025 Congress, and the ISMICS 2024 Osaka workshop lists him as international faculty.
Sources: AATS 2026: Cui MESM for mid-cavity obstruction · ESC Congress 2025: Cui MESM presentation · ISMICS 2024 Osaka workshop international faculty
| Practical detail | What it means for your stay |
|---|---|
| Internet | Google, Facebook, YouTube and X are blocked in mainland China. Offline medical records and a locally accessible communication channel reduce dependence on those services. |
| Language | English-speaking clinical staff are not universal in China. Interpretation, bedside assistance and their cost form part of the travel and care arrangements. |
| Meals and personal care | The meal plan, dietary needs and help with daily personal care are part of the hospital-stay arrangements. |
| Records for home follow-up | Discharge documents may be issued in Chinese. A translated operation report, discharge summary and medicine list support continuity with the home cardiologist. |
Sources: China travel advice: Internet access · Medical treatment in China
The accounts below identify the setting and procedure so you can judge how closely they match your needs. They describe experience with care, not the chance of a surgical result.
A reviewer said the consultation reassured them while they awaited further treatment.
HOCM consultation experience · 2023-03-10 · WeDoctor / Guahao
HOCM diagnosis; consultation only; no operation described. Summary of the original; not clinical outcome evidence.
Read the source account ↗A reviewer wanted a treatment plan from the online consultation and was disappointed to be directed to an in-person visit.
Different condition: valve consultation · 2024-11-19 · WeDoctor / Guahao
Valve disease; online consultation, not HCM or surgery. Summary of the original; not clinical outcome evidence.
Read the source account ↗A hospital-published account describes surgery with Cui’s team in September 2023, supportive nursing care and symptom improvement at the writer’s 40-day follow-up.
Hospital-published patient story · HOCM surgery in 2023 · 2024-05-31 · Account displayed as Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital official on Sohu
HOCM surgery described through a right axillary approach; exact modern MESM protocol/version is not established by this account. Summary of the original; not clinical outcome evidence.
Read the source account ↗For the separate experience of using Bookimed, read the coordination-service reviews on Trustpilot. These are not ratings of this surgeon or this operation.
Cleveland, United States
Nicholas Smedira
Cleveland Clinic HCM Center
Specialist HCM imaging and myectomy that can also correct mitral-leaflet or papillary-muscle causes of obstruction.
Quote on request
Individual estimate after assessment.
A historical series of 1,559 LVOT operations, including 1,530 myectomies and 522 myectomies with mitral or subvalvular intervention.
New York, United States
Daniel Swistel · Joshua Scheinerman
NYU Langone Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Program
An HCM team that treats septal and mitral causes of obstruction, with conventional and selected robotic surgical approaches.
Quote on request
Individual estimate after assessment.
NYU reports more than 600 myectomies at programme level. Supporting method evidence includes a historical 77-patient anatomy study and a separate first robotic case report.
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