A 58-year-old man presented with stable angina pectoris. Coronary computed tomography angiography and coronary angiography revealed significant diffuse stenosis suggestive of coronary artery calcification at the proximal to midleft circumflex artery (Figures 1A, 1B). Percutaneous coronary intervention was performed. Frequency-domain optical coherence tomography revealed calcified plaques (Figur...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the efficacy and safety of transcatheter radiofrequency-assisted valve dilatation for infants with pulmonary valve atresia and intact ventricular septum as an alternative to the use of laser heated wires. DESIGN Prospective clinical study. SETTING Three paediatric cardiology centres. PATIENTS Four children (aged 5-101 days, weight 2.8 kg) with pulmonary valve atre...

Twenty nine patients (19 male, mean (SD) age 6.25 (0.5) years (range 0.16-15 years] with typical pulmonary valve stenosis were treated by balloon dilatation of the pulmonary valve. They were studied by echocardiography before the procedure, immediately after it, and at follow up (mean (SD) 10.2 (5.6) months, n = 18). The morphology of the pulmonary valve, the right ventricular-pulmonary artery ...

The cutting balloon (CB) is a specialized device designed to create discrete longitudinal incisions in the atherosclerotic target coronary segment during balloon inflation. Such controlled dilatation theoretically reduces the force needed to dilate an obstructive lesion compared with standard percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). We report a multicenter, randomized trial compar...

A 65 year gentleman had complaints of difficulty in swallowing primarily for solids along with foreign body sensation in throat for six months duration. Patient also had to do multiple attempts at swallowing the bolus. Occasionally patient also had episodes of coughing during swallowing of liquids. Patient had no loss of weight, fever and hematemesis. Barium swallow revealed narrowing at level ...

Twenty two patients (four men, 18 women, mean age 56 years, range 21 to 88 years) with a history of rheumatic mitral stenosis were studied by cross sectional echocardiography before and after balloon dilatation of the mitral valve. The appearance of the mitral valve on the pre-dilatation echocardiogram was scored for leaflet mobility, leaflet thickening, subvalvar thickening, and calcification....

Currently Percutaneous Balloon Mitral Valvuloplasty has established itself as a standard treatment for patients with severe mitral stenosis. A patient with severe mitral stenosis was posted for the above procedure. After dilatation of mitral valvular apparatus the Accura balloon failed to deflate on repeated aspirations, probably due to rupture of internal lumen. Finally, a guide wire was passe...

To investigate the mechanism that increases the orifice area of the mitral valve during balloon dilatation 43 surgically excised intact rheumatic mitral valves were studied. The main pathological features were (a) fibrosis of mitral valve leaflets and commissures (10 valves); (b) fibrosis with calcification of one commissure (eight anterolateral, seven posteromedial); (c) fibrosis with calcific...

The efficacy of balloon dilatation of the mitral valve by a bifoil (2 x 19 mm) or trefoil (3 x 15 mm) catheter (single catheter technique) was assessed in 53 patients (mean age 28) with mitral stenosis, most of whom were women. The procedure was unsuccessful in three patients. After balloon dilatation the left atrial pressure decreased from 22 mm Hg to 13 mm Hg and the mitral valve gradient fro...