[Closed-heart mitral valve surgery]

Good results and an absence of complications were obtained in 100 cases of closed-heart mitral commissurotomy. The present importance of digital divulsion of the beating heart is emphasised. Widening of the ostium was not hampered by the presence of calcifications or tendinous chords. Intracavitary thrombosis proved to be closely related to age, the seriousness of the symptoms, and the state of the ostium surface.