title: The advantages of On-line transesophageal echocardiography guide during percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential advantages of on-line transesophageal echocardiography during percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV). One hundred thirty-four consecutive patients who underwent PBMV were included in this study. Group 1 included 64 patients who underwent PBMV under fluoroscopy guide only, and group 2 included 70 patients who underwent PBMV under on-line transesophageal echocardiography guide. Inoue balloons were used in all cases. The mitral valve area after valvuloplasty was comparable between the 2 groups. The procedure time was significantly shorter in group 2 (99 +/- 48 min vs 64 +/- 22 min, P <.0001 ), and the average fluoroscopy time was shorter in group 2 without statistical significance (30 +/- 17 min vs 19 +/- 15 min, P =.25 ). Five (7.8%) patients in group 1 and 2 (2.8%) patients in group 2 underwent surgery because of procedure-related complications. The limitation of this study was the learning curve of the operator, because the 2 groups were treated serially. In conclusion, transesophageal echocardiography can be used effectively during balloon mitral valvuloplasty, and it may help to reduce the rate of complications resulting from trans-septal catheterization and balloon valvuloplasty and to reduce procedure time and fluoroscopy time.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mokdong Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hyon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000379:methods*; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008946:Mitral Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy*; D009862:Online Systems