Mitral valvotomy during pregnancy; eighteen cases.

Mitral stenosis is especially common in women of child bearing age. Of our first 350 mitral valvotomies, 64 per cent. were women below the age of 45 and i8 of these women were pregnant. There are several reports in the literature of the value of mitral valvotomy during pregnancy.6, 7, 8. 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 25 Organic heart disease, especially mitral stenosis, is one of the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. Rheumatic heart disease accounts for 90 per cent. of pregnant cardiac patients and in 75 per cent. of these there is involvement of the mitral valve,4 usually with mitral stenosis. The object of this communication is to present clinical details, criteria for selection of these cases, discussion about the optimum time for surgery, operative findings, immediate post-operative complications and correlation of operative findings with the post-operative progress.