OBJECTIVE To compare the clinical characteristics, haemodynamic findings, and symptomatic outcome in four age groups of patients in the UK undergoing percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy. DESIGN A review of patients with mitral stenosis treated by balloon dilatation. SETTING Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, a cardiac referral centre. RESULTS Of 405 patients who had mitral balloon val...

OBJECTIVE To assess the immediate haemodynamic improvement and long term symptomatic benefit of percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy in patients aged over 70 years. DESIGN Pre- and postprocedure haemodynamic data and follow up for 1 to 10 years by clinic visit or telephone contact. SETTING Tertiary referral centre in Scotland. SUBJECTS 80 patients age 70 and over who had mitral balloon d...

Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy (PMV) has evolved into an effective method for the treatment of patients with symptomatic mitral stenosis. An increase in mitral regurgitation can occur in '45% of patients undergoing PMV. Severe mitral regurgitation can be caused by rupture of chordae or of a papillary muscle. Noncommissural tearing of the mitral leaflet is also an important mechanism of s...

OBJECTIVES This study evaluated the immediate and long-term results of percutaneous Inoue balloon mitral valvotomy in patients with severe valvular and subvalvular deformity. METHODS We reviewed the prevalvotomy transthoracic echocardiograms of patients from the North American multicenter Inoue registry with total Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) echocardiographic scores > or = 10. The ec...

Percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty is now a widely accepted alternative to surgical valvotomy for patients with congenital aortic valve stenosis. Mitral valve anomalies are well known to coexist and influence the prognosis from all palliative procedures. Two cases of mitral valve injury occurring during balloon aortic valvuloplasty are reported, one an 11 month old boy, the other a 2 day old ba...

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy and safety of percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC), using multi-track double balloon technique in juvenile mitral stenosis. DESIGN Open non-randomised intervention. SETTING Cardiac catheterisation laboratories of The Mater Hospital, The Nairobi Hospital and Kenyatta National Hospital from 1996 to 2001. PATIENTS Forty five consecutive pa...