[Endoluminal mitral valvuloplasty in young adults and children. Apropos of 10 cases].

Between April 1 and May 15, 1986, transluminal dilatation of the mitral valve was performed at the Marie-Lannelongue Hospital, near Paris, in 10 patients aged from 12 to 48 years (mean 25,3 years) suffering from rheumatic mitral stenosis with supple valve leaflets. The procedure, carried out under local anaesthesia, included trans-septal catheterization followed by installation of one, then usually two balloons opposite the mitral orifice. The total diameter of the balloons was often greater than that of the mitral annulus. No haemorrhage, embolism or arrhythmia was observed. A significant left-to-right shunt, evaluated by radioisotope exploration with technetium pyrophosphate performed on the 8th day, was present in only one patient. The LV-LA end-diastolic gradient fell from 14.4 +/- 9.8 to 4.6 +/- 3.4 mmHg (p less than 0.01). The mean pulmonary arterial pressure was reduced less significantly from 39.9 +/- 18.4 to 27.2 +/- 11.3 mmHg (p less than 0.02). The cardiac output was only moderately increased from 2.52 +/- 0.48 to 2.88 +/- 0.66 l/min/m2. The mitral valve area, measured from the smaller axis on 2-dimensional echocardiography, more than doubled, reaching a mean value of 1.99 +/- 0.56 cm2. This figure was confirmed by the reduction, at Doppler velocimetry, of the gradient half-regression time from 267 +/- 62 to 118 +/- 46 ms (p less than 0.01). Similarly, the end-systolic gradient evaluated by Doppler, fell from 17.5 +/- 8.9 to 5.3 +/- 4.7 mmHg (p less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)