Newer advances in the diagnosis and treatment of mitral stenosis.

There have been significant changes in presentation, diagnosis, and therapy of patients with mitral stenosis. Both the prevalence of mitral stenosis, as well as the type of patient now with mitral stenosis, have changed significantly over the past few decades. In patients with mitral stenosis two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiography have become the diagnostic modalities of choice. The advent of percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy now provides a nonsurgical approach for the treatment of selected patients with mitral stenosis.