[Mitral commissurotomy under direct vision. 37 cases]

1 188 mitral commissurotomies were carried out between 1962 and 1976, 37 of them (3.1%) being under direct vision. The two operative deaths (5.4%) occurred early in the series. Longer term follow-up showed that 3 cases died secondarily, and 3 had revision surgery. The main complication was mitral incompetence (51% of operated cases had a systolic murmur). The varying indications and results are presented; these justify a prospective study, but not a recommendation for the systematic adoption of mitral commissurotomy by an open heart technique.