Percutaneous transarterial balloon valvuloplasty for mitral valve stenosis.

A new technique was developed that allows mitral commissurotomy without surgery. A balloon catheter was inserted percutaneously from the left femoral artery over a long guidewire introduced into the right femoral vein and advanced transseptally through the Brockenbrough catheter to the left ventricle and drawn out of the body through the left femoral artery using an intravascular retriever set. This procedure was performed in 3 patients with moderate mitral stenosis. After the procedure, the mean diastolic pressure gradient across the mitral valve was reduced and left ventriculography revealed no resultant mitral regurgitation in any of the patients. The procedure was easy to perform and caused no complications.