PERCUTANEOUS TRANSVENOUS MITRAL COMMISSUROTOMY USING THE INOUE BALLOON - INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

The Inoue balloon was first used for percutaneous transvenous mitral c ommissurotomy in 1982 and was commercialized 5 yr later. The experienc e obtained in thousands of cases performed throughout the world show: (1) the stepwise dilatation technique under echocardiographic guidance appears to be the most efficient and allows the most to be made of th is balloon's inherent possibilities, (2) in comparison with other ball oon techniques, the advantages of the Inoue balloon are that it is sim pler to use, provides equivalent improvement in valve area, and has lo wer risks, particularly in relation to the production of mitral regurg itation, and (3) long-term results appear similar to those provided by other balloon techniques. Inoue's technique is currently the most wid ely used for mitral valvuloplasty in the world. Its further developmen t and use depend on further studies of its long-term results together with improvement in the economic aspects. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.