ABSTRACT
Balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty [BPV] has emerged as the treatment of choice for patients with valvular pulmonary stenosis [PS]. We report here our short and long-term outcomes of BPV in 64 patients with isolated native PS. From February 1996 to February 2006, sixty-four patients with PS [pressure gradients ?40 mm Hg] were enrolled in this retrospective study. The hemodynamic data at catheterization revealed that the RV - PA pressure gradient before BPV ranged from 40 to 240 mmHg [mean +/- SD=93.2 +/- 43.4 mmHg]. The above gradient immediately after BPV ranged from 5 to 163 mmHg [mean +/- SD=30.3 +/- 27.7 mmHg], and the difference was significant [p=0.0037]. Twenty-three patients had regular follow-up. The duration of follow- up ranged from 1-120 months with a mean of 38.5 +/- 31.3 months. The transvalvar pressure gradient during the above period ranged from 10 to 140 mmHg with a mean of 35.9 +/- 27.9 mmHg and showed a significant difference [p=0.0032] with the pressure gradients before BPV. BPV provides short and mid-term relief of pulmonary valve obstruction in the majority of patients