Closed Mitral Valvotomy versus Balloon Valvuloplasty: A Comparison of 100 Cases:

From January 1995 to December 1996, 50 patients with mitral stenosis underwent surgical valvotomy and another 50 had balloon mitral valvuloplasty. Balloon valvuloplasty was performed by the Inoue technique and surgical closed mitral valvotomy was carried out through a standard anterolateral thoracotomy with transventricular repeated Tubbs or finger dilatation. Functional status, left atrial mean transmitral gradient, mitral valve area, and left atrial size were recorded. No significant difference was found between the values of these parameters in the 2 groups of patients at the end of the study.