Aortic valve replacement in the setting of critical aortic valve stenosis with cardiogenic shock is associated with high mortality, yet surgery is the only definitive treatment. We present the case of a patient with critical aortic valve stenosis and cardiogenic shock who received a short period of percutaneous mechanical support and balloon aortic valvuloplasty that resulted in rapid clinical ...

In this issue of Circulation, Abascal and coworkers' present another in a series of articles in which they conclude that echocardiographic evidence of thickening, immobility, subvalvular fusion, and calcification of the stenotic mitral valve predicts a low immediate success rate of mitral balloon dilation.1-5 These findings are particularly valuable to those who treat mitral stenosis in the car...

Global migration means rheumatic heart disease (RHD) and mitral stenosis (MS) remain important issues in Western health systems. Percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty (PMBV) is a durable treatment strategy relying on suitable leaflet characteristics adjudged by Wilkins score. Commissural calcification alone has been thought as reliable Timing PMBV also important. Falling left atrial ejection fract...

BACKGROUND Globally, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains an important cause of heart disease. In Australia it particularly affects older non-Indigenous Australians and Aboriginal Australians and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Factors associated with the choice of treatment for advanced RHD remain variable and poorly understood. METHODS The Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac a...

We present a case of an 82-year-old male patient with history severe mitral regurgitation, aortic chronic atrial fibrillation, and suicide attempts due to depression. The underwent valvuloplasty valve replacement for regurgitation regurgitation. was extubated on the morning sixth postoperative day, but he reintubated in evening because hypotension unstable respiratory status. Echocardiography r...

The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of balloon valvuloplasty in the young adult with congenital aortic stenosis and to compare its effectiveness with children. Percutaneous balloon valvuloplasty is effective in children with congenital aortic stenosis, but not in adults with acquired calcific aortic stenosis. Because effectiveness of balloon valvuloplasty in young adults...