title: Pulmonary valvuloplasty in a pregnant woman using sole transthoracic echo guidance: technical considerations.
abstract: An 18-year-old pregnant woman with severe pulmonary valve stenosis and exertional dyspnea underwent balloon dilation during pregnancy using sole echocardiographic guidance to protect the baby from radiation. The main technical difficulty encountered was during advancement of the catheter across the right ventricular outflow tract into the pulmonary valve. This was overcome using a wedge balloon catheter over a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) wire. Using echo guidance, the balloon was positioned across the pulmonary valve and inflated. Pulmonary balloon valvuloplasty can be performed safely using sole transthoracic echocardiography guidance without fluoroscopy.
authors.affiliation: King Fahad Medical City, Prince Salman Heart Center, Pediatric Cardiology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Pediatric Cardiology, University of Essen, Kinderklinik, Essen, Germany. Electronic address: ogalal@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohammed Omar
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Galal
authors.affiliation: King Fahad Medical City, Prince Salman Heart Center, Pediatric Cardiology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Shehla
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jadoon
authors.affiliation: King Fahad Medical City, Prince Salman Heart Center, Pediatric Cardiology, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Tarek Sulaiman
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Momenah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D063126:Balloon Valvuloplasty / Q000379:methods*; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D011664:Pulmonary Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D011666:Pulmonary Valve Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*