Surgical Treatment of Mitral Stenosis by the Transventricular Approach with a Mechanical Dilator

Abstract

SINCE 1948 when Bailey,¹ in Philadelphia, Harken,² in Boston, and Brock,³ in London, successfully relieved mitral stenosis by surgical exploration through the left atrium and rupture of the commissures, the transatrial digital approach has been the accepted form of treatment. Certainly, in a great many patients the atrial approach has been very successful indeed. As surgeons have gained experience with this clinical problem, however, it has become increasingly obvious that digital pressure alone frequently gives only limited improvement. Consequently, many ingenious instruments and technics have been devised to overcome the resistance of the mitral valve and to improve upon the . . .