[Balloon catheter mitral valvuloplasty in pregnant women]

Catheter balloon mitral valvulotomy was performed in two patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis on the 28th and 24th weeks of pregnancy. The operation in the first patient was carried out at the onset of pulmonary edema. The results of treatment were good in both cases. The area of the mitral orifice in the patients increased from 1.5 and 1.6 to 3.2 and 3.5 cm2, the pressure gradient between the left atrium and the left ventricle reduced from 40 and 30 to 6 and 4 mm Hg. This was attended by disappearance of diastolic murmur and clinical manifestations of pulmonary congestion in both patients. Mitral regurgitation did not develop after the operation. Roentgenoscopy lasted 20 and 33 minutes. Screens were used to protect the fetus from the direct effect of X-rays. Pregnancy terminated in both patients by spontaneous at term delivery. They gave birth to two healthy girls. Catheter balloon mitral valvuloplasty does not yield to closed mitral commissurotomy in efficacy. Due to its low traumatizing property and no need for general anesthesia this intervention is preferable for pregnant females suffering from mitral stenosis.