PERCUTANEOUS BALLOON VALVULOPLASTY

Use of the catheter balloon technique has been extended from the dilatation of stenosis in peripheral and coronary arteries to the dilataion of stenotic cardiac valves. First applied to the treatment of congenital heart disease (initially of pulmonary valve stenosis and then of aortic valve stenosis), this technique has been extended to the treatment of acquired stenosis in adults, first of the mitral valve, then of the aortic valve, and finally of the tricuspid valve. Current indications for and results of balloon valvuloplasty are reviewed here.