Mitral Stenosis and Systemic Emboli

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Abstract
A 3-year follow-up is reviewed of 84 patients over the age of 40 who had mitral valvotomy at Guy''s Hospital. The immediate mortality of mitral valvotomy was 6%, with a further mortality of 5% per year during the follow-up. The results in 34 patients who had had previous systemic emboli showed only 27% good results in respect of exercise tolerance compared with 47% in the non- emboli group. Thirteen patients who had minimal mitral stenosis and were operated on to prevent further emboli also had poor results. Six of the 84 patients had further emboli at operation and a further 4 had emboli during the 3-year follow-up. The occurrence of emboli is not thought to be an additional reason for performing mitral valvotomy, and long-term anticoagulant treatment might be used.