Echocardiographic evaluation of the mitral valve area before and after percutaneous mitral commissurotomy: the pressure half-time method revisited.

Background: Doppler pressure half-time (PHT) is widely used for mitral valve area (MVA) assessment but its accuracy has not been fully evaluated before and after percutaneous mitral commissurotomy (PMC) in a large series of patients.

Methods: In 120 patients with severe mitral stenosis, MVA(PHT) was prospectively evaluated before and 24 to 48 hours after PMC and compared with 2-dimensional planimetry (MVA(2D)) as a reference method.

Results: After PMC, MVA(2D) significantly increased (1.