Continuous ultrasonic monitoring of balloon valvuloplasty.

A novel ultrasound transducer developed in our laboratory (CONTISON) was used for monitoring catheter balloon commissurotomy (CBC). The transducer was placed at the cardiac apex to obtain an apical four-chamber view and attached to the chest wall using an adhesive ring. During the procedure, the tip of the needle was imaged first in the right atrium and was seen to traverse the interatrial septum and enter the left atrium. Mitral valve gradients were measured before and after CBC.