Evaluation of a simplified transseptal mitral valvuloplasty technique using over-the-wire single balloons and complementary femoral and jugular venous approaches in 1,407 consecutive patients.

The over-the-wire double balloon technique (DBT) of balloon mitral valvuloplasty (BMV) has been decreasingly used in recent years because of its relative complexity and potential for left ventricular perforation. We attempted to make over-the-wire BMV simpler and safer by developing: (a) a single balloon technique (SBT) using a rapidly inflating, over-the-wire, cylindrical balloon having abrupt distal taper and short blunt tip to prevent left ventricular perforation, and (b) an alternative jugular approach to reduce technical difficulty in patients with cardiac anatomic distortion. SBT-BMV was evaluated over seven years in 1,407 consecutive patients (femoral approach: 1,277 patients, jugular approach: 130 patients), and compared with 954 patients who underwent DBT-BMV earlier at the same center. Results of SBT-BMV were comparable to those of DBT-BMV: optimal outcomes (91.0% versus 87.8%), fluoroscopy time (12.4 +/- 6.8 minutes versus 17.6 +/- 7.2 minutes), significant right heart oxygen step-up (4.8% versus 10.7%), and major complication rates (3.7% versus 5.6%) were significantly better with SBT-BMV; whereas mean post-BMV mitral valve area (1.92 +/- 0.31 cm2 versus 2.03 +/- 0.42 cm2), and post-BMV hemodynamic parameters were inferior with SBT-BMV. Balloon-related left ventricular perforation did not occur in SBT-BMV. Fluoroscopy time in jugular approach SBT-BMV (9.0 +/- 4.2 minutes) was significantly lower than in the femoral approach SBT-BMV (12.4 +/- 6.8 minutes) despite cardiac anatomic distortion. SBT-BMV reduced procedural costs considerably. SBT-BMV was effective, safe, technically simple and economical; it was comparable to, and overcame several limitations of DBT-BMV.