A novel, transhepatic approach to mitral valvuloplasty is described in a patient with an inferior vena caval filter. After transhepatic transseptal puncture, an Inoue dilatation catheter was passed through the hepatic parenchyma and across the atrial septum. Balloon mitral valvuloplasty was performed without complications. This approach should be considered when femoral venous access is restric...

BACKGROUND Mitral annuloplasty is the most common surgical procedure performed for ischemic mitral regurgitation (MR). Surgical mitral annuloplasty is limited by morbidity, mortality, and MR recurrence. We evaluated the safety and feasibility of a transvenous catheter-delivered implantable device to provide a percutaneous alternative to surgical mitral annuloplasty. METHODS AND RESULTS Five p...

Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) was performed successfully without complications in 3 patients with severe mitral stenosis and hyperthyroidism. All 3 patients had pliable, noncalcified mitral valves. One patient who had been treated with methimazole for 6 months was still in a hyperthyroid state when she presented with intractable congestive heart failure and was found to ...

BACKGROUND Many previous studies have evaluated the impact of mitral valve (MV) deformity scores on the percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) outcome in patients with mitral stenosis; however, the relationship between mitral annulus calcification (MAC) and the PTMC result has not yet been established. The current study aimed to investigate whether MAC could independently influen...

OBJECTIVES We sought to compare the maternal and fetal outcomes of patients with severe mitral stenosis submitted to percutaneous balloon dilation versus open mitral valve commissurotomy (MVC) during pregnancy. BACKGROUND Heart failure in patients with mitral stenosis complicating pregnancy is a common problem in developing countries. Since 1984, percutaneous dilation of the mitral valve usin...