Trefoil balloon for aortic valvuloplasty.
A new balloon for valvuloplasty (Trefoil balloon) was successfully used in a 12 year old boy with congenital aortic stenosis. The Trefoil balloon consists of three angioplasty balloons mounted in parallel on a single shaft. When they are inflated simultaneously they produce a rosette that allows blood flow to continue through the valve. The aortic pressure only dropped to 75 mm Hg during a 15 s balloon dilatation at 4 bar (400 kPa). The procedure reduced the transvalvar gradient from 45 to 15 mm Hg.
D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001024:Aortic Valve Stenosis / Q000151:congenital* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male