Tsung O. Cheng, MD, Professor of Medicine, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (USA) I read with interest the article on the use of transesophageal echo-cardiography (TEE) in monitoring emergency percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV) in a patient with massive left atrial thrombosis by Chirillo et al. [1]. Although I agree that TEE was of great value in monitoring each step...

To determine the rate of mitral restenosis and mitral regurgitation increase 1 year after mitral valvotomy using the Inoue balloon catheter, 66 consecutive patients with severe, pliable mitral stenosis had their mitral valve area (MVA) calculated by two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) and Doppler before, immediately after balloon valvotomy, and at 1-year follow-up. Color Doppler studies were...

T he presence of thrombus in the left atrium (LA) is an important factor in the selection of cases for percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy (MBV). This is because of the danger of embolisation caused by manipulation of guidewires and balloon catheters. The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association recommendations for MBV emphasise absence of LA thrombus. Transoesophageal echoca...

Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy (PMV) has been accepted as an alternative to surgical mitral commissurotomy in the treatment of patients with symptomatic rheumatic mitral stenosis. Previous studies have demonstrated that PMV produces good immediate and long-term follow-up results in a selected group of patients with mitral stenosis.1-4 Hemodynamic and clinical improvement is achieved in t...

BACKGROUND Percutaneous balloon valvotomy has become a common treatment of mitral stenosis, but the cost of the procedure remains a limitation in countries with restricted financial resources, leading to a frequent reuse of the disposable catheters. To overcome this limitation, a reusable metallic valvotomy device has been developed with the goals of both improving the mitral valvotomy results ...

We selected 40 patients with severe symptomatic rheumatic mitral stenosis for balloon valvotomy using the Inoue balloon technique. The patients' mean age was 31 +/- 14 years and there were 24 females and 16 males. The patients were selected according to the following echo/Doppler criteria; 1. Severe mitral stenosis, i. e. mitral valve area (MVA) less than 1.1 cm2; 2. pliable anterior mitral val...