Obesity and coronary intervention: should we continue to use Body Mass Index as a risk factor?

Background: Central anthropometric indexes are better than the body mass index to discriminate elevated coronary risk. However, the Body Mass Index (BMI) is still the most frequently studied anthropometric index on outcomes of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary angioplasty (PCI).

Objective: To recognize, among several anthropometric indexes of obesity, which one best discriminates MACE (Major Adverse Cardiac Events) after PCI.

Percutaneous mitral balloon valvuloplasty in pregnant women with mitral stenosis.

Forty-four consecutive pregnant patients with mitral stenosis were submitted to percutaneous mitral valvuloplasty (PMV) over a period of 12 years. The mean age was 28 +/- 6 years and the mean gestational age was 23 +/- 6 weeks. The mean mitral valve area had a significant increase from 1.