[Catheterized balloon mitral valvuloplasty in pregnancy]

Catheterized balloon mitral valvuloplasty was carried out in two females with rheumatic mitral stenosis on the 28th and 24th weeks of pregnancy. The operation on the first patient was performed at the beginning of the development of pulmonary edema. Treatment produced good results in both cases. The surface of the mitral orifice increased from 1.5 and 1.6 to 3.2 and 3.5 cm2, the pressure gradient between the left atrium and left ventricle reduced from 40 and 30 to 6 and 4 mm Hg. There was attended by disappearance of the diastolic murmur and the clinical manifestations of congestion in pulmonary circulation in both patients. Mitral regurgitation did not occur after the operation. Radioscopy lasted 20 and 33 minutes. Protective screens were used to protect the fetus from direct exposure to X-ray. Pregnancy terminated at full term by spontaneous delivery in both patients. The babies, both girls, are healthy. Catheterized balloon mitral valvuloplasty does not yield to closed mitral commissurotomy in efficacy. The mild character of injury inflicted during the operation and no need for general anesthesia make this intervention most preferable in female patients with mitral stenosis during pregnancy.