Percutaneous Mechanical Mitral Commissurotomy With a Newly Designed Metallic Valvulotome

Abstract

The results obtained with this new device are encouraging and at least comparable to those of current balloon techniques. Multiple uses after sterilization should markedly decrease the procedural cost, a major advantage in countries with limited resources and high incidence of mitral stenosis.

2008 Focused Update Incorporated Into the ACC/AHA 2006 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Valvular Heart Disease

“…Percutaneous mechanical mitral commissurotomy with a metallic valvotome has been introduced, and the results appear to be similar. The advantage of this technique is that multiple uses of the metallic device after sterilization are feasible and reduce the cost of treatment 443 ; however, it is not widely available, and there is limited experience with this technique. The balloon valvotomy procedure itself is technically challenging and involves a steep learning curve.…”

Modern Management of Mitral Stenosis

“…31 Recently, encouraging results have been reported with the use of a reusable metallic valvulotome. 32 Reuse of the device is helpful in reducing the cost of the procedure.…”

The long-term outcome of balloon valvuloplasty for mitral stenosis

“…Young patients in need are mainly encountered in developing countries, in which the cost of PMC is frequently prohibitive, and much higher than for closed-heart commissurotomy, mainly due to the cost of the balloon. This explains why closed-heart commissurotomy remains the first-line treatment of mitral stenosis in many countries, and justifies the attempts to develop less costly devices, such as the multi-track balloon or the metallic commissurotome, which has the advantage of being reusable [18,19].…”