ABSTRACT
Percutaneous transvenous mitral valvuloplasty was first introduced into clinical practice by Inoue and colleagues in 1984 and is now a safe and effective therapy that replaces the need for surgery in many patients with symptomatic mitral stenosis. Worldwide, a procedural success rate greater than 95% has been achieved, with operator experience a determining factor in this outcome, and mitral valvuloplasty is now providing results that are comparable with those obtained by surgical closed valvotomy, with low morbidity and mortality. This chapter describes the methodology for mitral valvuloplasty in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory.
