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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">abc</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title>Arquivos Brasileiros de Cardiologia</journal-title>
        <abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">Arq. Bras. Cardiol.</abbrev-journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn pub-type="ppub">0066-782X</issn>
      <issn pub-type="epub">1678-4170</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>Sociedade Brasileira de Cardiologia - SBC</publisher-name>
        <publisher-loc>S&#227;o Paulo, SP, Brazil</publisher-loc>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id" specific-use="scielo-v3">kTnYxvkxP4DNvTgqw4kkPpv</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="other">00009</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id" specific-use="scielo-v2">S0066-782X2005000500009</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id" specific-use="scielo-v1">S0066-782X(05)08400509</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.1590/S0066-782X2005000500009</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Artigo Original</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o: evolu&#231;&#227;o a longo prazo e an&#225;lise dos fatores de risco para &#243;bito e eventos maiores</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Borges</surname>
            <given-names>Ivana Picone</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Peixoto</surname>
            <given-names>Edison Carvalho Sandoval</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Peixoto</surname>
            <given-names>Rodrigo Trajano Sandoval</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Oliveira</surname>
            <given-names>Paulo Sergio de</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Netto</surname>
            <given-names>Mario Salles</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Labrunie</surname>
            <given-names>Pierre</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Labrunie</surname>
            <given-names>Marta</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Peixoto</surname>
            <given-names>Ricardo Trajano Sandoval</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Villela</surname>
            <given-names>Ronaldo de Amorim</given-names>
          </name>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff01"/>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff02"/>
        </contrib>
      </contrib-group>
      <aff id="aff01">
        <addr-line>
          <named-content content-type="city">Rio de Janeiro</named-content>
        </addr-line>
        <institution content-type="orgname">Cinecor 4&#186; Centenario</institution>
      </aff>
      <aff id="aff02">
        <addr-line>
          <named-content content-type="city">Niter&#243;i</named-content>
          <named-content content-type="state">Rio de Janeiro</named-content>
        </addr-line>
        <institution content-type="orgname">Universidade Federal Fuminense</institution>
      </aff>
      <pub-date date-type="collection" publication-format="electronic">
        <month>05</month>
        <year>2005</year>
      </pub-date>
      <volume>84</volume>
      <issue>5</issue>
      <fpage>397</fpage>
      <lpage>404</lpage>
      <history>
        <date date-type="accepted">
          <day>25</day>
          <month>08</month>
          <year>2004</year>
        </date>
        <date date-type="received">
          <day>11</day>
          <month>04</month>
          <year>2004</year>
        </date>
      </history>
      <permissions>
        <license license-type="open-access" xlink:href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/" xml:lang="en">
          <license-p>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</license-p>
        </license>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <p>OBJETIVO: Identificar os fatores, que predizem &#243;bito e eventos combinados de &#243;bito, nova valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o ou cirurgia valvar mitral a longo prazo, nos pacientes submetidos &#224; valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o. M&#201;TODOS: O per&#237;odo de seguimento foi de 49,0&#177;31,0 (1 a 122) meses. Foram usadas as t&#233;cnicas do bal&#227;o &#250;nico (84,4%), do bal&#227;o de Inoue (13,8%) e do duplo bal&#227;o (1,7%). RESULTADOS: Acompanhados 289 pacientes com idade de 38,0&#177;12,6 (13 a 83) anos, no pr&#233;-procedimento, 244 apresentavam escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &lt; 8 e 45 escore &gt; 8, 85% eram do sexo feminino e 84% estavam em ritmo sinusal. No seguimento, a sobrevida do grupo total, do grupo de escore &lt; 8 e do grupo de escore &gt; 8 foi de 95,5%, 98,0% e 82,2% respectivamente (p&lt;0,0001), enquanto que a sobrevida livre de eventos combinados foi respectivamente 83,4%, 86,1% e 68,9% (p&lt;0,0001). Na an&#225;lise multivariada, os fatores, que predisseram &#243;bito a longo prazo foram o escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8 pr&#233;-procedimento e a presen&#231;a de insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave per-procedimento, e os que predisseram eventos combinados, foram a hist&#243;ria pr&#233;via de comissurotomia valvar mitral e de fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial e a presen&#231;a de insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave per-procedimento e de &#225;rea valvar mitral &lt; 1,5 m&#178; (insucesso) p&#243;s-procedimento. CONCLUS&#195;O: A valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o &#233; um procedimento efetivo, sendo que mais de dois ter&#231;os dos pacientes estavam livres de eventos ao final do seguimento. A sobrevida no grupo total foi elevada, maior no grupo com menor escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group xml:lang="pt" kwd-group-type="author-generated">
        <kwd>estenose valvar mitral</kwd>
        <kwd>estenose mitral</kwd>
        <kwd>valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o</kwd>
        <kwd>febre reum&#225;tica</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
      <pub-date publication-format="electronic" date-type="pub">
        <day>24</day>
        <month>05</month>
        <year>2005</year>
      </pub-date>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
  <body>
    <p>
      <bold>ARTIGO ORIGINAL</bold>
    </p>
    <p>Valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o. Evolu&#231;&#227;o a longo prazo e an&#225;lise dos fatores de risco para &#243;bito e eventos maiores </p>
    <p>
      <bold>Ivana Picone Borges; Edison Carvalho Sandoval Peixoto; Rodrigo Trajano Sandoval Peixoto; Paulo Sergio de Oliveira; Mario Salles Netto; Pierre Labrunie; Marta Labrunie; Ricardo Trajano Sandoval Peixoto; Ronaldo de Amorim Villela</bold>
    </p>
    <p> Rio de Janeiro, RJ</p>
    <p>Cinecor 4&#186; Centenario, Rio de Janeiro e Universidade Federal Fuminense, Niter&#243;i, Rio de Janeiro </p>
    <p>
      <xref ref-type="corresp" rid="end">Endere&#231;o para correspond&#234;ncia</xref>
    </p>
    <p>
      <bold>RESUMO</bold>
    </p>
    <p><bold>OBJETIVO:</bold> Identificar os fatores, que predizem &#243;bito e eventos combinados de &#243;bito, nova valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o ou cirurgia valvar mitral a longo prazo, nos pacientes submetidos &#224; valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o. </p>
    <p><bold>M&#201;TODOS: </bold>O per&#237;odo de seguimento foi de 49,0&#177;31,0 (1 a 122) meses. Foram usadas as t&#233;cnicas do bal&#227;o &#250;nico (84,4%), do bal&#227;o de Inoue (13,8%) e do duplo bal&#227;o (1,7%). </p>
    <p><bold>RESULTADOS: </bold>Acompanhados 289 pacientes com idade de 38,0&#177;12,6 (13 a 83) anos, no pr&#233;-procedimento, 244 apresentavam escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 e 45 escore &gt; 8, 85% eram do sexo feminino e 84% estavam em ritmo sinusal. No seguimento, a sobrevida do grupo total, do grupo de escore <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 e do grupo de escore &gt; 8 foi de 95,5%, 98,0% e 82,2% respectivamente (p&lt;0,0001), enquanto que a sobrevida livre de eventos combinados foi respectivamente 83,4%, 86,1% e 68,9% (p&lt;0,0001). Na an&#225;lise multivariada, os fatores, que predisseram &#243;bito a longo prazo foram o escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8 pr&#233;-procedimento e a presen&#231;a de insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave per-procedimento, e os que predisseram eventos combinados, foram a hist&#243;ria pr&#233;via de comissurotomia valvar mitral e de fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial e a presen&#231;a de insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave per-procedimento e de &#225;rea valvar mitral &lt; 1,5 m<sup>2</sup> (insucesso) p&#243;s-procedimento. </p>
    <p><bold>CONCLUS&#195;O:</bold> A valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o &#233; um procedimento efetivo, sendo que mais de dois ter&#231;os dos pacientes estavam livres de eventos ao final do seguimento. A sobrevida no grupo total foi elevada, maior no grupo com menor escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico. </p>
    <p><bold>Palavras-chave: </bold>estenose valvar mitral, estenose mitral, valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o, febre reum&#225;tica</p>
    <p> A valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o foi introduzida em 1984 por Inoue e cols.<sup>1</sup>. Em 1986, Mckay e cols.<sup>2</sup> e Palacios e cols.<sup>3</sup> colocaram-na em pr&#225;tica nos Estados Unidos. Na Ar&#225;bia Saudita, Al Zaibag e cols.<sup>4</sup>, passaram a usar a t&#233;cnica do duplo bal&#227;o por via transeptal. No Brasil, a dilata&#231;&#227;o foi descrita em 1987, por via retr&#243;gada<sup>5,6</sup> e por via transeptal<sup>7-9</sup>. </p>
    <p>Hoje, est&#225; comprovado que se pode obter &#225;rea valvar mitral p&#243;s-valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o semelhante com qualquer uma das t&#233;cnicas em uso<sup>10-16</sup>. </p>
    <p>A sobrevida geral e a sobrevida livre de eventos variam entre os grupos estudados, em fun&#231;&#227;o das caracter&#237;sticas cl&#237;nicas e ecocardiogr&#225;ficas dos pacientes<sup>17-24</sup>. Entre as caracter&#237;sticas, que favorecem melhor evolu&#231;&#227;o, encontram-se idade jovem, anatomia valvar satisfat&#243;ria com escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> a 8 pontos, presen&#231;a do ritmo sinusal, aus&#234;ncia de regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral antes do procedimento e aus&#234;ncia de comissurotomia cir&#250;rgica pr&#233;via ao procedimento. </p>
    <p>O objetivo prim&#225;rio deste estudo foi estabelecer os fatores, que predizem &#243;bito e eventos combinados (&#243;bito, nova valvoplastia mitral e cirurgia valvar mitral), no acompanhamento a longo prazo de pacientes submetidos &#224; valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o e, o secund&#225;rio, comparar a evolu&#231;&#227;o cl&#237;nica e ecocardiogr&#225;fica de um grupo com escore <underline>&lt;</underline> a 8 e outro com escore &gt; 8 pontos. </p>
    <p>
      <bold>M&#233;todos</bold>
    </p>
    <p>Foi realizado estudo prospectivo longitudinal de pacientes submetidos &#224; valvoplastia mitral percut&#226;nea por bal&#227;o. </p>
    <p>Foram exclu&#237;dos pacientes com procedimento n&#227;o completado e aqueles em que o procedimento foi completado, mas o paciente n&#227;o atingiu um m&#234;s de evolu&#231;&#227;o, seja por perda de seguimento, ou por complica&#231;&#245;es ou insucesso seguido de eventos maiores, impedindo o seguimento por 1 m&#234;s. O seguimento foi interrompido no caso de &#243;bito, de nova valvolplastia mitral por bal&#227;o ou de cirurgia valvar mitral. Os pacientes reentraram como novo procedimento em caso de nova valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o. </p>
    <p>Foram utilizadas as t&#233;cnicas do bal&#227;o &#250;nico, do duplo bal&#227;o e do bal&#227;o de Inoue, usando-se para todas, bal&#245;es &#250;nicos de 20, 25 e 30 mm de di&#226;metro, associa&#231;&#245;es de bal&#245;es de 20 mm com 15 mm e de 20 mm com 18 mm de di&#226;metro e bal&#245;es de Inoue com di&#226;metros m&#225;ximos de insufla&#231;&#227;o entre 24 mm e 28 mm. No caso de aparecimento de nova regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral ou o agravamento do grau de regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral pr&#233;via per-procedimento foi quantificada pelo crit&#233;rio de Sellers e col.<sup>25</sup>. Foi medido o gradiente m&#233;dio antes e ap&#243;s o procedimento, 1&#186;) pelo m&#233;todo dos tr&#234;s pontos<sup>26</sup> e 2&#186;) pela planimetria da &#225;rea do gradiente<sup>26</sup>. Foi determinada a &#225;rea valvar mitral antes e ap&#243;s a dilata&#231;&#227;o, determinando-se o d&#233;bito card&#237;aco por termodilui&#231;&#227;o e utilizando-se a f&#243;rmula de Gorlin e Gorlin<sup>27</sup>. O acompanhamento foi realizado atrav&#233;s de contato telef&#244;nico ou por carta. Foram avaliadas a classe funcional (CF) pela classifica&#231;&#227;o da NYHA, mortalidade e causa de &#243;bito, medica&#231;&#245;es em uso, realiza&#231;&#227;o de cirurgia de valva mitral ou de nova valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o. Ap&#243;s o preenchimento do question&#225;rio, foi realizado ecocardiograma unidimensional e bidimensional com Doppler, em 224 casos. A evolu&#231;&#227;o cl&#237;nica dos pacientes em estudo foi considerada a partir de 1 m&#234;s do procedimento. A &#225;rea valvar mitral foi calculada pela planimetria e/ou pelo tempo de meia press&#227;o (<italic>transmitral pressure half-time</italic>). A morfologia valvar mitral foi avaliada usando-se o escore de pontua&#231;&#227;o ecocardiogr&#225;fica de Wilkins e cols.<sup>28</sup>. O grau de regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral foi medido pelo Doppler ecocardiogr&#225;fico de acordo com a extens&#227;o do jato regurgitante no &#225;trio esquerdo, como discreta, moderada e grave<sup>29</sup>. Todos os pacientes foram submetidos ao exame de ecocardiograma, antes do procedimento de valvoplastia valvar mitral. No in&#237;cio e no final do procedimento, a &#225;rea valvar mitral foi medida pelo c&#225;lculo hemodin&#226;mico<sup>25,27</sup> e o grau de regurgita&#231;&#227;o pela ventriculografia esquerda. </p>
    <p>Os pacientes foram tamb&#233;m divididos em 2 subgrupos A e B, usando-se o escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico de Wilkins e cols.<sup>28</sup>. O grupo A com escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 e o grupo B, com escore &gt; 8 pontos. </p>
    <p>Sucesso foi definido como &#225;rea valvar mitral <underline>&gt;</underline> 1,50 cm<sup>2</sup>, ap&#243;s o procedimento, atrav&#233;s do c&#225;lculo hemodin&#226;mico, sem insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave. Insucesso foi definido como &#225;rea valvar mitral &lt; 1,5 cm<sup>2</sup>. </p>
    <p>Insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave de 3 ou 4+ foi determinada pelo m&#233;todo de Seller e cols.<sup>25</sup>. </p>
    <p>As compara&#231;&#245;es entre as vari&#225;veis cont&#237;nuas foram realizadas com o teste "t de student", quando a distribui&#231;&#227;o era normal e, em caso contr&#225;rio, utilizou-se o teste de Mann-Whitney. As compara&#231;&#245;es entre as vari&#225;veis categ&#243;ricas foram realizadas pelo teste do qui-quadrado, do qui-quadrado com corre&#231;&#227;o de Yates e exato Fisher, conforme as freq&#252;&#234;ncias do evento, e usado o programa EPI INFO<sup>30</sup> para os c&#225;lculos e como banco de dados. Um modelo multivariado de riscos proporcionais de Cox foi constru&#237;do para identificar os fatores independentes, que predizem &#243;bito e eventos maiores combinados de &#243;bito, nova valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o e cirurgia valvar mitral a longo prazo de evolu&#231;&#227;o, usando-se o programa SPSS 8<sup>31</sup>. As curvas atuariais de sobrevida e sobrevida livre de eventos combinados foram elaboradas pelo m&#233;todo de Kaplan-Meier<sup>32</sup> e comparadas, empregando-se os m&#233;todos do Log Rank, Breslow e Tarone-Ware. A an&#225;lise multivariada<sup>33</sup> por etapas foi utilizada com o intuito de se identificar os fatores independentes, que predizem &#243;bito e eventos combinados na evolu&#231;&#227;o a longo prazo. Foi calculado o risco relativo das vari&#225;veis relacionados ao tempo e determinado o intervalo de confian&#231;a com base na distribui&#231;&#227;o normal da vari&#225;vel atrav&#233;s do modelo da regress&#227;o de Cox<sup>33</sup>. As vari&#225;veis que mostraram probabilidade de erro &lt; 7% (p&lt;0,07), na an&#225;lise univariada, foram submetidas &#224; an&#225;lise multivariada. As vari&#225;veis selecionadas para a an&#225;lise multivariada foram idade, sucesso, presen&#231;a de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave ap&#243;s o procedimento, &#225;rea efetiva de dilata&#231;&#227;o da valva mitral, di&#226;metro do bal&#227;o de dilata&#231;&#227;o da valva mitral, ritmo card&#237;aco, passado de comissurotomia mitral cir&#250;rgica, escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 e &gt; 8 e escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 11 e &lt; 11. </p>
    <p>
      <bold>Resultados</bold>
    </p>
    <p>Foram acompanhados 289 pacientes, com procedimento completo e com seguimento de pelo menos 1 m&#234;s, por 49,0&#177;31,0 (1 a 122) meses, sendo 246 (85,1%) pacientes do sexo feminino, com idade 38,0&#177;12,6 (13 a 83) anos. Encontravam-se em CF I da NYHA quatro (1,4%) pacientes, 72 (24,9%) em CF II, 184 (63,7%) em CF III e 29 (10,0%) em CF IV. Estavam em ritmo sinusal 244 (84,4%) pacientes e 45 (15,6%) em fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial. Tinham antecedente de comissurotomia cir&#250;rgica pr&#233;via 25 (8,7%) pacientes e 9 (3,1%) de valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o. O escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico foi de 7,3&#177;1,5 (4 a 14) pontos, sendo 244 (84,4%) casos com escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, grupo A e 45 (15,6%) &gt; 8, grupo B. A &#225;rea valvar mitral ecocardiogr&#225;fica, pr&#233; valvoplastia mitral, foi de 0,90&#177;0,21 cm<sup>2</sup>, no grupo A de 0,93&#177;0,21 cm<sup>2</sup> e no grupo B de 0,91&#177;0,20 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0,5627). Foram 244 (84,4%) procedimentos com o bal&#227;o &#250;nico, 40 (13,8%) com bal&#227;o de Inoue e 5 (1,7%) com duplo bal&#227;o, com di&#226;metro m&#225;ximo m&#233;dio utilizado de 29,5&#177;1,2mm e a &#225;rea m&#225;xima m&#233;dia efetiva de dilata&#231;&#227;o de 6,87&#177;0,49 cm<sup>2</sup>. A press&#227;o arterial pulmonar m&#233;dia, gradiente valvar mitral m&#233;dio e a &#225;rea valvar mitral pr&#233; e p&#243;s valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o foram respectivamente: 38,0&#177;14,3 e 26,7&#177;10,1 mmHg (p&lt;0,0001), 19,2&#177;7,0 e 5,4&#177;3,5 mmHg (p&lt;0,0001) e 0,90&#177;0,21 e 2,00&#177;0,39 cm<sup>2 </sup>(p=0,0139). Houve sucesso em 261 (90,4%) procedimentos e insucesso em 19 (6,6%), a &#225;rea valvar mitral p&#243;s-valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o n&#227;o foi medida em 9 (3,1%) procedimentos. Pr&#233;-valvoplastia mitral, havia presen&#231;a de insufici&#234;ncia mitral de 1+ em 44 (15,2%) pacientes, 2+ em 1 (0,3%) e a v&#225;lvula era competente em 244 (84,4%). P&#243;s-valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o a v&#225;lvula era competente em 207 (71,6%) dos pacientes e havia insufici&#234;ncia mitral de 1+ em 61 (21,1%), 2+ em 18 (6,2%), 3+ em 2 (0,7%) e 4+ em 1 (0,3%). Houve complica&#231;&#245;es graves em 5 pacientes dentre os 289 pacientes, 3 (1,0%) com insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave e 2 com tamponamento card&#237;aco, drenados na pr&#243;pria sala de hemodin&#226;mica, mas todos permaneceram com evolu&#231;&#227;o cl&#237;nica por pelo menos 1 m&#234;s e sem procedimento cir&#250;rgico de troca valvar mitral. </p>
    <p>Na evolu&#231;&#227;o final de 49,0&#177;31,0 (1 a 122) meses, a CF segundo a NYHA foi I em 141 (48,8%) dos pacientes, CF II em 82 (28,4%), CF III em 49 (17,0%) e CF IV em 4 (1,4%), com 13 (4,5%) &#243;bitos. O grupo A, com 244 pacientes, apresentava 124 em CF I segundo a NYHA, 69 em CF II, 43 em CF III, 3 em CF IV com 5 &#243;bitos e o grupo B, com 45 pacientes, 17 pacientes em CF I, 13 em CF II, 6 em CF III, 1 em CF IV com 8 &#243;bitos (p=0,0001). Foi realizado ecocardiograma ao final da evolu&#231;&#227;o em 224 pacientes com &#225;rea valvar mitral de 1,56&#177;0,49 cm<sup>2</sup>, tendo havido &#225;rea valvar &lt; 1,50 cm<sup>2</sup> em 97 (44,1%) dos 224 pacientes, sendo no grupo A de 1,58&#177;0,50 cm<sup>2</sup> e no grupo B de 1,42&#177;0,39 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0,1042). Pr&#233;-procedimento, a &#225;rea valvar mitral m&#233;dia avaliada pela ecocardiografia foi de 0,93&#177;0,21cm<sup>2</sup> e 0,91&#177;0,20 (p=0,5627) nos grupos A e B respectivamente (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab01">tab. I</xref>). A &#225;rea valvar mitral m&#233;dia avaliada pelo m&#233;todo hemodin&#226;mico (Gorlin) pr&#233; valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o foi de 0,90&#177;0,22 e 0,94&#177;0,21 (p=0,2075) respectivamente nos grupos A e B (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab01">tab. I</xref>). A &#225;rea valvar mitral (Gorlin), imediatamente ap&#243;s valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o, era maior no grupo A de 2,03&#177;0,39 cm<sup>2</sup> em compara&#231;&#227;o com o grupo B de 1,83&#177;0,37 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0,0016). Nos 224 pacientes que realizaram ecocardiograma no seguimento, a v&#225;lvula mitral era competente em 60 (26,8%) pacientes e havia insufici&#234;ncia mitral de 1+ em 118 (52,7%) pacientes, 2+ em 24 (10,7%), 3+ em 12 (5,4%) e 4+ em 10 (4,5%). Tr&#234;s procedimentos com insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave iniciaram o seguimento, e todos os 3 pacientes faleceram, sendo um no procedimento cir&#250;rgico. Houve 19 casos novos de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave na evolu&#231;&#227;o, 9 pacientes foram operados com 1 &#243;bito e 10 evolu&#237;am clinicamente ou aguardavam cirurgia. Foram submetidos &#224; nova valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o, 14 (4,8%) pacientes e &#224; cirurgia valvar mitral, 27 (9,3%) pacientes, 16 por estenose mitral, 6 por insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave e 5 por dupla les&#227;o mitral. Houve 13 (4,5%) &#243;bitos no seguimento, sendo 11 (3,8%) card&#237;acos, 1 (0,7%) por acidente vascular cerebral e em 1 (0,7%) sem relato da causa. Dos &#243;bitos card&#237;acos, 6 ocorreram na cirurgia de troca valvar mitral, 4 por edema agudo de pulm&#227;o e 1 por insufici&#234;ncia card&#237;aca. A mortalidade tardia foi maior no grupo B, com 8 (17,8%) &#243;bitos para 45 pacientes contra 5 (3,5%) &#243;bitos para 244 pacientes no grupo A (p=0,0001), (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab01">tab. I</xref>). Houve 48 eventos combinados (16,6%) no grupo total, ao final do per&#237;odo de acompanhamento, sendo menor no grupo A, 34 (13,9%) eventos em rela&#231;&#227;o ao B, 14 (31,1%) eventos, p=0,0010 (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab01">tab. I</xref>). A sobrevida do grupo total, ao final do estudo foi de 95,5%, sendo no grupo A de 98,0% maior que no grupo B, de 82,2% (p=0,0001). A sobrevida livre de eventos do grupo total foi de 83,4%, e no grupo A de 86,1% maior que no grupo B, de 68,9% (p=0,0010). </p>
    <table-wrap id="tab01">
      <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gt01.jpg"/></table-wrap>
    <p>Os fatores que predisseram sobrevida a longo prazo, na an&#225;lise univariada foram: escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> a 8 (p=0,0001), escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> a 11 (p&lt;0,0001) idade do paciente &lt; 50 anos (p=0,0016), aus&#234;ncia de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave per-procedimento (p&lt;0,0001), ritmo sinusal (p=0,0034), di&#226;metro do bal&#227;o de dilata&#231;&#227;o mitral <underline>&gt;</underline> 28 mm (p=0,0005), &#225;rea efetiva de dilata&#231;&#227;o mitral &gt; 6 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0,0005) e &#225;rea valvar mitral (Gorlin) <underline>&gt;</underline> 1,5 cm<sup>2 </sup>(sucesso), (p=0,0065). </p>
    <p>Os fatores que predisseram sobrevida livre de eventos combinados, na an&#225;lise univariada, foram: ritmo sinusal (p=0,0005); o di&#226;metro do bal&#227;o de dilata&#231;&#227;o mitral <underline>&gt;</underline> 28 mm (p=0,0005); &#225;rea efetiva de dilata&#231;&#227;o mitral <underline>&gt;</underline> 6 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0,0036) e &#225;rea valvar mitral <underline>&gt;</underline> 1,5 cm<sup>2</sup> (p&lt;0,0001), escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 (p=0,0017); escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 11 (p&lt;0,0001); aus&#234;ncia de comissurotomia mitral cir&#250;rgica pr&#233;via (p=0,0235) aus&#234;ncia de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave per-procedimento (p&lt;0,0001) e idade do paciente &lt; 50 anos (p=0,0013). </p>
    <p>Na an&#225;lise multivariada fatores que predisseram sobrevida a longo prazo: escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 (p=0,0003) e aus&#234;ncia de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave per-valvoplastia mitral (p=0,0001) e sobrevida livre de eventos: aus&#234;ncia insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave ap&#243;s a valvoplastia por bal&#227;o (p=0,0038), aus&#234;ncia de comissurotomia mitral cir&#250;rgica pr&#233;via (p=0,0077), &#225;rea valvar mitral calculada pela hemodin&#226;mica ap&#243;s o procedimento <underline>&gt;</underline> 1,5 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0,0005) e ritmo sinusal (p=0,0220), (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab02">tab. II</xref>). </p>
    <table-wrap id="tab02">
      <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gt02.jpg"/></table-wrap>
    <p>Foram diversas de forma significativa (<italic>log rank</italic>) as curvas de sobrevida de Kaplan-Meier para: escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 e escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8 (p&lt;0,0001), insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave per-procedimento presente ou ausente (p&lt;0,0001) e de sobrevida livre de eventos para: comissurotomia pr&#233;via presente ou ausente (p=0,0191), insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave per-procedimento presente ou ausente (p&lt;0,0001), ritmo sinusal ou fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial (p=0,0011), (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig01">fig. 1</xref>) e &#225;rea valvar mitral p&#243;s-procedimento pelo m&#233;todo de Gorlin &lt; 1,5 cm<sup>2 </sup>e <underline>&gt;</underline> 1,5 cm<sup>2 </sup>(p&lt;0,0001), todas vari&#225;veis significativas na an&#225;lise multivari&#225;vel. Al&#233;m disso estudaram-se as curvas de sobrevida e sobrevida livre de eventos dos pacientes divididos em 3 grupos de escore, escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, de 9 a 11 e escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&gt;</underline> 12 (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig02">fig. 2</xref> e <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig03">3</xref>), ambas com evolu&#231;&#245;es diversas e com significado estat&#237;stico. </p>
    <fig id="fig01">
      <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gf01.jpg"/></fig>
    <fig id="fig02">
      <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gf02.jpg"/></fig>
    <fig id="fig03">
      <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gf03.jpg"/></fig>
    <p>
      <bold>Discuss&#227;o</bold>
    </p>
    <p>A valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o surgiu como alternativa ao tratamento cir&#250;rgico dos portadores de estenose mitral grave. A fim de serem feitas indica&#231;&#245;es deste procedimento, de forma a mais precisa poss&#237;vel, &#233; necess&#225;rio o conhecimento dos fatores, que predizem o &#243;bito e os eventos maiores. As popula&#231;&#245;es diferem em idade, caracter&#237;sticas cl&#237;nicas e ecocardiogr&#225;ficas entre os pa&#237;ses da Europa, Am&#233;rica do Norte, &#193;sia, &#193;frica e Am&#233;rica do Sul. </p>
    <p>Na literatura encontram-se trabalhos com an&#225;lises evolutivas de diferentes tempos de seguimento, variando de 1 a 12 anos de acompanhamento ap&#243;s a realiza&#231;&#227;o da valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o<sup>17,18,21,24,34-42</sup>. </p>
    <p>A idade de nossos pacientes foi de 38,0&#177;12,6 anos, intermedi&#225;ria entre aqueles dos pa&#237;ses como &#205;ndia<sup>43</sup> (26 anos, a idade m&#233;dia no estudo de Kaul e cols.<sup>43</sup>), Tun&#237;sia<sup>16,17</sup> e Egito<sup>44</sup> (29 anos a idade m&#233;dia do estudo de Zaki e cols.<sup>44</sup>) mais jovens, e as idades m&#233;dias dos pacientes de pa&#237;ses da Europa<sup>20,37,45</sup>, Estados Unidos<sup>24,46</sup> e Jap&#227;o<sup>38,47</sup>, muito mais elevadas. Nos estudos americanos de Pal&#225;cios e cols.<sup>24</sup>, Cohen e cols.<sup>48</sup> e de Pathan e cols.<sup>49</sup> as idades m&#233;dias dos pacientes eram de 55, 59 e 58 anos, respectivamente. Dois estudos japoneses<sup>38,47</sup> mostraram idades m&#233;dias dos pacientes de 51 e 52 anos. </p>
    <p>O sexo feminino foi predominante, correspondendo a 85,1% do dos pacientes deste estudo, condizendo com a literatura<sup>16,17,24,36,38,40</sup>. </p>
    <p>Previamente ao procedimento da valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o, a maior parte dos pacientes estava em CF da NYHA III (63,7%) e IV (10%), 73,7% no total, o mesmo acontecendo na literatura<sup>17,24,37,49</sup>. Atualmente, j&#225; se aceita a indica&#231;&#227;o de pacientes com CF II NYHA e, excepcionalmente, em CF I para a realiza&#231;&#227;o de valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o<sup>17,49,50</sup>. Ao final do seguimento, 77,2% dos pacientes estavam em CF I e II e 26,6% achavam-se sem uso de medica&#231;&#227;o e encontravam-se em CF III e IV, 18,4% dos pacientes. Farhat e cols.<sup>16</sup> observaram que 95% dos pacientes estavam em CF I e II ap&#243;s 37&#177;22 meses de acompanhamento e, ap&#243;s 7 anos de acompanhamento de uma popula&#231;&#227;o selecionada com caracter&#237;sticas favor&#225;veis, 93,6% estavam em CF I e II<sup>17</sup>. Iung e cols.<sup>20</sup> encontraram 56% dos pacientes em CF I e II, ap&#243;s 10 anos de acompanhamento, mas quando estudaram uma popula&#231;&#227;o de pacientes com valvas calcificadas<sup>22</sup> observaram que apenas 36% deles encontraram-se em CF I e II, ap&#243;s 8 anos de evolu&#231;&#227;o. </p>
    <p>A maioria dos pacientes deste estudo encontrava-se em ritmo sinusal (84%) no momento da indica&#231;&#227;o do procedimento de valvoplastia mitral. Farhat e cols.<sup>16</sup> relataram 71% dos pacientes em ritmo sinusal no pr&#233;-procedimento, ambos os estudos apresentavam popula&#231;&#245;es jovens. Os estudos com popula&#231;&#245;es mais velhas<sup>24</sup>, geralmente mostram escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico maior e maior incid&#234;ncia de fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial. Alguns autores salientam que a presen&#231;a de fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial seria um fator, que prediria eventos no acompanhamento a longo prazo<sup>20,22,23,51 </sup>de acordo com nosso estudo (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig01">fig. 1</xref>), mas n&#227;o de outros autores<sup>24,36,37,49,39,52,53</sup>. </p>
    <p>A valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o proporciona queda imediata nas press&#245;es de &#225;trio esquerdo e capilar pulmonar, levando al&#237;vio imediato aos sintomas, como ocorreu neste estudo e na literatura<sup>16,18,23,24,48,54-57</sup>. H&#225; queda da press&#227;o arterial pulmonar inclusive na presen&#231;a de hipertens&#227;o grave, at&#233; com n&#237;veis supra-sist&#234;micos<sup>57</sup>. </p>
    <p>No presente estudo, 84,4% dos pacientes apresentavam escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 pr&#233;-procedimento, como outros estudos da literatura<sup>24,54,58</sup>. O grupo de pacientes com escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 apresentou resultados imediatos melhores (p= 0,0016), como encontrado na literatura<sup>24,36,54,58</sup>. Quando foram analisados classe funcional e &#243;bito a longo prazo, o grupo de escore menor evoluiu de forma mais favor&#225;vel (p=0,0001). Esses pacientes eram mais jovens, com menor incid&#234;ncia de fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial, menor calcifica&#231;&#227;o mitral, menor classe funcional e menor grau de regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral pr&#233;-procedimento e menor incid&#234;ncia de comissurotomia cir&#250;rgica pr&#233;via. Apesar dos resultados menos satisfat&#243;rios, no grupo com escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8, quando comparados aos do grupo de escore menor, o nosso estudo apresentou que a valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o &#233; uma alternativa ao tratamento da estenose mitral, mostrando bons resultados, ainda que inferiores ao outro grupo, sobretudo quando o escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico for <underline>&lt;</underline> 11. Pal&#225;cios e cols.<sup>24</sup> mostraram diferen&#231;a estat&#237;stica significativa no &#237;ndice de sucesso do procedimento a favor do grupo de escore <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, sendo a mortalidade, a necessidade de cirurgia valvar mitral e a incid&#234;ncia de CF III e IV maiores, a longo prazo, no grupo de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8<sup>24</sup>. Hildick-Smith e cols.<sup>36</sup>, em pacientes com caracter&#237;sticas desfavor&#225;veis ao procedimento, incluindo 59% dos pacientes com escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8, mostraram sucesso 61% dos casos e sobrevida livre de eventos em 6 anos de 56%. </p>
    <p>Neste estudo, a v&#225;lvula mitral era competente, pr&#233;-procedimento, em 84,4% dos casos, estando os restantes divididos em 1+ e 2+ de regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral, segundo a classifica&#231;&#227;o de Sellers e cols.<sup>25</sup> e p&#243;s-procedimento, 71,6% dos pacientes mantinham-se com v&#225;lvula mitral competente e houve 1,0% de insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave, entre os pacientes seguidos por pelo menos 1 m&#234;s. Este percentual de insufici&#234;ncia mitral n&#227;o reflete o do nosso grupo total, onde a incid&#234;ncia de insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave foi de 2,5%<sup>42</sup>. Pal&#225;cios e cols.<sup>24</sup> obtiveram 9,4% de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave p&#243;s-procedimento, maior no grupo com escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8. No estudo de Hernandez e cols.<sup>37</sup> a incid&#234;ncia desta complica&#231;&#227;o foi de 4%, no estudo de Kaul e cols.<sup>43</sup> de 3,3%, no de Iung e cols.<sup>45</sup> de 4% e no de Farhat e cols.<sup>16</sup> foi de 4,6%. </p>
    <p>Assim como neste estudo, autores identificaram esta complica&#231;&#227;o como um fator, que prediz eventos a longo prazo<sup>,23,24,37,40,53,59</sup>. Zhang e cols.<sup>23</sup> compararam pacientes com e sem insufici&#234;ncia mitral pr&#233;-procedimento e observarqam que os pacientes com insufici&#234;ncia mitral pr&#233; existente eram mais velhos e apresentaram maior n&#250;mero de eventos na evolu&#231;&#227;o a longo prazo. Hernandez e cols.<sup>37</sup> encontraram 4% de insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave p&#243;s-procedimento, sem rela&#231;&#227;o com idade ou escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico e casos de insufici&#234;ncia mitral p&#243;s-procedimento discreta ou moderada, tendendo a n&#227;o progredir durante o seguimento ou at&#233; mesmo regredir. A ruptura dos folhetos levou &#224; regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral grave e necessidade de cirurgia de urg&#234;ncia em todos os pacientes<sup>43</sup>, em 1,6% dos pacientes houve diminui&#231;&#227;o do grau de regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral ao longo do tempo e, provavelmente, o mecanismo de regurgita&#231;&#227;o foi o estiramento excessivo da comissura mitral<sup>37,43</sup>. A regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral grave pode ser prevista, atrav&#233;s de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico espec&#237;fico para sua previs&#227;o<sup>60</sup>. A regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral pr&#233; valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o &#233; fator, que prediz menor sobrevida livre de eventos a longo prazo<sup>23</sup>, em pacientes, geralmente mais velhos, apresentando mais calcifica&#231;&#227;o mitral e mais fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial, em compara&#231;&#227;o aos pacientes sem regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral concomitantes. Em nosso estudo, apenas 224 pacientes foram submetidos ao exame de ecocardiograma no seguimento tardio e foi observado que 26,8% continuavam a apresentar a v&#225;lvula mitral competente e havendo, no total, 9,9% casos de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave. Houve 3 pacientes com insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave no p&#243;s-imediato, mantidos no estudo, pelo menos, por 1 m&#234;s e 19 casos novos de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave durante o nosso seguimento (7,79%). Kaul e cols.<sup>43</sup> encontraram 3,3% de casos de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave no p&#243;s-imediato, sendo que 55% necessitaram de troca valvar urgente e, no final do seguimento, observaram 8,4% de casos de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave, 37,66% necessitando de cirurgia valvar mitral. </p>
    <p>Ao final do acompanhamento, pelo ecocardiograma, a &#225;rea valvar mitral m&#233;dia por n&#243;s encontrada, foi de 1,56&#177;0,49 cm<sup>2</sup>, sendo de 1,58&#177;0,50 cm<sup>2</sup> e 1,42&#177;0,39 cm<sup>2</sup> nos grupos de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 e &gt; 8 respectivamente (p=0,1042). Houve perda de &#225;rea valvar mitral, em 49&#177;31 meses de 0,44 cm<sup>2</sup> em m&#233;dia no grupo total. A &#225;rea valvar mitral, imediatamente ap&#243;s o procedimento e calculada pela hemodin&#226;mica (Gorlin<sup>27</sup>) era em m&#233;dia 2,00&#177;0,39 cm<sup>2</sup>, com diferen&#231;a estatisticamente significativa entre os dois grupos, maior no grupo de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8. A perda da &#225;rea valvar mitral pode ser resultado da progress&#227;o da doen&#231;a reum&#225;tica e/ou da presen&#231;a de fluxos sangu&#237;neos turbulentos nas v&#225;lvulas deformadas<sup>61</sup>. P&#243;s valvoplastia mitral, Hernandez e cols.<sup>37</sup> encontraram perda da &#225;rea valvar mitral &gt; 0,3 cm<sup>2</sup>, em 12%, 22% e 27% dos pacientes em 3, 5 e 7 anos respectivamente, em m&#233;dia, 0,13&#177;0,21 cm<sup>2</sup>. A perda de &#225;rea valvar mitral na literatura variou entre 0,16 e 0,4 cm<sup>2</sup> para grupos diversos e em diferentes per&#237;odos de evolu&#231;&#227;o<sup>17,38,49,62,63</sup>. A perda da &#225;rea valvar mitral, no estudo de Wang e col.<sup>46</sup>, foi de 0,06 cm<sup>2</sup> por ano ap&#243;s a realiza&#231;&#227;o da valvoplastia por bal&#227;o. Foi poss&#237;vel observar no nosso estudo, no final do tempo de evolu&#231;&#227;o, 97 pacientes (44,1%) com &#225;reas valvares mitrais menores que 1,50 cm<sup>2</sup>, crit&#233;rio usado no estudo, para definir reestenose, e o mesmo adotado por outros autores<sup>17,51</sup>. Houve 44,1% de reestenose mitral em um per&#237;odo m&#233;dio de 49&#177;31 neste estudo, definida como &#225;rea valvar mitral &lt; 1,50 cm<sup>2</sup>. Na literatura observamos diferentes freq&#252;&#234;ncias de reestenose entre os estudos, variando entre 6,6% a 40%<sup>16-18,34-39,46,51,63</sup>, com tempos de seguimento diferentes, de 36 meses a 7 anos e popula&#231;&#245;es e crit&#233;rios de defini&#231;&#227;o de reestenose tamb&#233;m diversos. A defini&#231;&#227;o de reestenose pode ser feita, clinicamente, ou em termos de &#225;rea valvar mitral, pela perda absoluta ou porcentagem da perda, ou perda do ganho valvar mitral ap&#243;s a valvoplastia por bal&#227;o<sup>16-18,36,37,46,47,51</sup>, a defini&#231;&#227;o de reestenose varia entre os autores, usando-se, mais freq&#252;entemente, como perda de 50% ou mais do ganho inicial e/ou &#225;rea valvar mitral &lt; 1,5 cm<sup>2</sup>. Wang e cols.<sup>46 </sup>observaram perda gradual e progressiva na &#225;rea valvar mitral, ap&#243;s a valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o e aus&#234;ncia de rela&#231;&#227;o entre a &#225;rea valvar mitral p&#243;s-procedimento e a reestenose, sugeririndo que a mesma faz parte de um processo biol&#243;gico em evolu&#231;&#227;o e n&#227;o um fen&#244;meno mec&#226;nico ou de retra&#231;&#227;o. </p>
    <p>No presente estudo foi encontrado 13 (4,5%) casos de &#243;bito ao final do per&#237;odo de evolu&#231;&#227;o, 11 (3,8%) de origem card&#237;aca, sendo que 46,15% dos &#243;bitos card&#237;acos ocorreram na cirurgia valvar mitral, realizada em diferentes Servi&#231;os. Farhat e cols.<sup>16</sup> encontraram 7 (1,6%) casos de &#243;bitos ao final de 37&#177;22 meses e um outro estudo dos mesmos autores<sup>17</sup>, com pacientes com caracter&#237;sticas favor&#225;veis e jovens, a mortalidade foi nula em 7 anos. Meneveau e cols.<sup>21</sup> encontraram mortalidade de 6% em 3 anos, chegando a 17% em 7 anos e meio de acompanhamento. Pal&#225;cios e col.<sup>24 </sup>encontraram 13,03% de &#243;bito em seguimento de 4,2&#177;3,7 anos, sendo 10,07% de origem card&#237;aca. Hildick-Smith e cols.<sup>36</sup> estudaram uma popula&#231;&#227;o de pacientes com caracter&#237;sticas desfavor&#225;veis para a realiza&#231;&#227;o da valvoplastia valvar mitral por bal&#227;o e observaram mortalidade de 3%, 12% e 18% em 1, 3 e 6 anos, respectivamente. Hernandez e cols.<sup>37</sup> encontraram 5% de &#243;bitos em 39&#177;23 meses, sendo 3,3% de origem card&#237;aca. Hamasaki e cols.<sup>38</sup> encontraram 2%, 7% e 14% em 1, 5 e 10 anos, respectivamente, de acompanhamento. Wang e cols.<sup>46</sup> encontraram 11 &#243;bitos (3,58%) no total, sendo que apenas 2 (18%) foram de origem card&#237;aca. Iung e cols.<sup>45</sup> encontraram 0,4% de &#243;bitos na evolu&#231;&#227;o. Neste estudo, quando foram comparados os dois grupos de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico, observou-se mortalidade maior no grupo de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8, de 17,8% contra 3,5% no grupo de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 (p=0,0001). Pal&#225;cios e cols.<sup>24</sup> tamb&#233;m encontraram mortalidade maior no grupo de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico maior. Assim, a mortalidade relatada na evolu&#231;&#227;o &#233; nula em grupos selecionados com caracter&#237;sticas favor&#225;veis a m&#233;dio prazo<sup>64, 65</sup> e mesmo a longo prazo<sup>17</sup>, chegando a 17 e 18%<sup>21,36</sup>, em fun&#231;&#227;o de caracter&#237;sticas desfavor&#225;veis e maior per&#237;odo de acompanhamento. </p>
    <p>No acompanhamento a longo prazo, a sobrevida encontrada varia muito, de 82% a 100% em per&#237;odos entre 5 a 7 anos de acompanhamento<sup>,17,18,21,34,36,37,38</sup>, provavelmente, pela diversidade cl&#237;nica e ecocardiogr&#225;fica das popula&#231;&#245;es estudadas. Em per&#237;odo mais longo, entre 10 a 12 anos de acompanhamento, &#233; relatado sobrevida entre 82% e 86%<sup>24,38</sup>. Os resultados a longo prazo s&#227;o menos satisfat&#243;rios nos estudos Europeus e Norte Americanos<sup>24,45,48,54</sup>, com pacientes mais velhos e anatomia valvar mais comprometida. A sobrevida neste estudo, ao final do seguimento, foi de 95,5% no grupo total de pacientes, 98% no grupo de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, maior que a do grupo de escore &gt; 8, que foi de 82,8% (p&lt;0,0001). </p>
    <p>A sobrevida livre de eventos deste estudo, ao final do seguimento, foi de 83,4% sendo maior (86,1%) no grupo A quando comparado ao grupo B (68,9%), (p&lt;0,0001). Na literatura, encontramos percentuais entre 16% e 90% com acompanhamento de 4 a 12 anos<sup>17,18-24,37,45,47,48,66</sup>, pela diversidades dos grupos de pacientes. Iung e col.<sup>45</sup> encontraram sobrevida livre de eventos de 58% em 8 anos, mas eram pacientes submetidos a valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o por reestenose p&#243;s comissurotomia cir&#250;rgica. Farhat e cols.<sup>17</sup> encontraram 90% de sobrevida livre de eventos em 7 anos, em um grupo de pacientes jovens, assim como Zaki e cols.<sup>18</sup>, que encontraram 91% em 5 anos. Sutaria e cols.<sup>19</sup> encontraram sobrevida livre de eventos em 5 anos de 36% em idosos. Em 6 anos de acompanhamento, Saeki e cols.<sup>47</sup> encontraram 88% de sobrevida livre de eventos e Iung e cols.<sup>20</sup>, em 10 anos, 56,4%. Maneveau e cols.<sup>21</sup> compararam a sobrevida livre de eventos, do grupo de anatomia valvar mitral favor&#225;vel, com a do grupo n&#227;o favor&#225;vel e encontraram 70% e 16%, respectivamente, em 7 anos e Iung e cols.<sup>22</sup>, em 8 anos, em pacientes com v&#225;lvulas calcificadas, encontram 36%. Zhang e cols.<sup>23</sup> encontraram sobrevida livre de eventos em 6 anos, em um grupo com regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral de 37% e no grupo sem regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral de 69%. Pal&#225;cios e cols.<sup>24</sup>, em 12 anos de acompanhamento, encontraram sobrevida livre de eventos de 38%, no grupo de escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 pontos e no grupo com escore elevado, de 22%. Hernandez e cols.<sup>37</sup> encontraram 69% de sobrevida livre de eventos, em 7 anos, em pacientes com escore baixo, enquanto Cohen e cols.<sup>48</sup> encontraram 51%, em 6 anos, em pacientes com escore baixo, mas com idade elevada. Dean e cols.<sup>66</sup>, no registro do NHLBI, encontraram 60% de sobrevida livre de eventos em 4 anos. </p>
    <p>Pela an&#225;lise multivariada, observamos que apenas o escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 8 e a presen&#231;a de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave per-procedimento de valvoplastia mitral bal&#227;o s&#227;o fatores independentes, que predizem &#243;bito na evolu&#231;&#227;o a longo prazo, no presente estudo. Na literatura, Dean e cols.<sup>66</sup> encontraram a idade &gt; 70 anos, a CF IV pr&#233;-procedimento e o escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico &gt; 12 como fatores, que prediziam &#243;bito, pela an&#225;lise univariada, em 4 anos de acompanhamento e na an&#225;lise multivariada encontraram como fatores independentes, que predizem &#243;bito em 4 anos, a CF IV pr&#233;-procedimento, o escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico elevado, a press&#227;o arterial pulmonar sist&#243;lica e a press&#227;o diast&#243;lica final do ventr&#237;culo esquerdo elevadas ap&#243;s o procedimento. Pal&#225;cios e cols.<sup>54</sup> encontraram como fatores independentes, que predisseram &#243;bito, pela an&#225;lise multivariada, o escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico, a idade elevada dos pacientes e a classe funcional pr&#233;-procedimento elevada. </p>
    <p>Pela an&#225;lise multivariada, os fatores independentes, que predisseram eventos na evolu&#231;&#227;o a longo prazo neste estudo foram: passado de comissurotomia mitral cir&#250;rgica, presen&#231;a fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial no pr&#233;-procedimento e de insufici&#234;ncia mitral grave per-procedimento e o insucesso no procedimento (&#225;rea valvar mitral &lt; 1,50 cm<sup>2</sup>). Na literatura, encontram-se: &#225;rea valvar mitral menor p&#243;s-procedimento<sup>20,37,40, 45,59,67</sup>, fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial<sup>20,22,23,51</sup>, passado de comissurotomia cir&#250;rgica mitral<sup>24,45,46,53,54</sup>, presen&#231;a de insufici&#234;ncia valvar mitral grave p&#243;s-procedimento<sup>20,24,37,40,46,53,59,67</sup> , classe funcional pr&#233;-procedimento elevada<sup>20,22,24,48,54</sup>, escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico pr&#233;-procedimento elevado<sup>23,24,36,37,40,48,54</sup>, idade elevada<sup>20,21,22,23,24,54</sup>, anatomia valvar mitral desfavor&#225;vel<sup>20,21,22,23,38,59</sup>, press&#227;o arterial pulmonar m&#233;dia elevada p&#243;s-procedimento<sup>21,24,40</sup>, gradiente transvalvar mitral elevado p&#243;s-procedimento<sup>20,21,22,46,51</sup>, press&#227;o de &#225;trio esquerdo elevada ap&#243;s o procedimento ou &#225;trio esquerdo aumentado<sup>36,46,59</sup>, sexo masculino<sup>36</sup>, indice cardiotor&#225;cico aumentado<sup>21,45</sup>, presen&#231;a de co-morbidades<sup>36</sup> e press&#227;o diast&#243;lica final do ventr&#237;culo esquerdo elevada<sup>48</sup>, como fatores independentes de eventos. </p>
    <p>O presente estudo concluiu que a valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o &#233; procedimento eficaz. A sobrevida e a sobrevida livre de eventos combinados de &#243;bito, nova valvoplastia mitral por bal&#227;o e cirurgia valvar mitral foram elevadas ao final do per&#237;odo de acompanhamento, estando mais de dois ter&#231;os do grupo total de pacientes livre de eventos ao final do estudo. Nos pacientes com escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 no pr&#233;-procedimento em compara&#231;&#227;o com o grupo de escore &gt; 8, observou-se sobrevida e sobrevida livre de eventos significativamente maiores. O escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico ainda separa 3 grupos com curvas de sobrevida diversas (<underline>&lt;</underline> 8, entre 9 e 11 e <underline>&gt;</underline> que 12), (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig02">fig. 2</xref> e <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig03">3</xref>). O escore ecocardiogr&#225;fico maior que 8 e a presen&#231;a de regurgita&#231;&#227;o mitral grave durante o procedimento foram fatores de risco para &#243;bito a longo prazo e o passado de comissurotomia valvar mitral cir&#250;rgica, presen&#231;a de fibrila&#231;&#227;o atrial no pr&#233;-procedimento, regurgita&#231;&#227;o valvar mitral grave per-procedimento e &#225;rea valvar mitral menor que 1,5 cm<sup>2</sup> no p&#243;s-procedimento foram fatores de risco para eventos combinados ao final do per&#237;odo de acompanhamento destes pacientes.</p>
    <p>
      <fn id="end" fn-type="corresp">
        <label>
          <bold>Endere&#231;o para correspond&#234;ncia</bold>
        </label>
        <p> Edison Carvalho Sandoval Peixoto </p>
        <p> Av. Epit&#225;cio Pessoa, 4986/301 </p>
        <p> 22471-003 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ </p>
        <p> E-mail: </p>
        <p>
          <email xlink:href="e.sandoval.p@openlink.com.br">e.sandoval.p@openlink.com.br</email>
        </p>
      </fn>
    </p>
    <p>Enviado em 11/04/2004 - Aceito em 25/08/2004</p>
  </body>
  <back>
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  <sub-article article-type="translation" id="TRen" xml:lang="en">
    <front-stub>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Original Articles</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title xml:lang="en">Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy: long-term outcome and assessment of risk factors for death and major events</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <abstract xml:lang="en">
        <p>OBJECTIVE: To identify the factors that predict death and combined events, (death, new mitral balloon valvotomy, or mitral valve surgery) in long-term follow-up of patients undergoing percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy. METHODS: Follow-up was 49.0&#177;31.0 (1 to 122) months. Techniques used were the single-balloon (84.4%), Inoue-balloon (13.8%), and double-balloon techniques (1.7%). RESULTS: Included in the study were 289 patients 38.0&#177;12.6 years of age (range, 13 to 83). Before the procedure, 244 patients had echocardiographic score &lt; 8, and 45 patients had score &gt; 8. Females comprised 85%, and 84% patients were in sinus rhythm. During follow-up, survival of the total group was 95.5%, that of the group with &lt; 8 was 98.0%, finally that of the group with scores &gt; 8 was 82.2% (P&lt;0.0001), whereas combined event-free survival was 83.4%, 86.1%, and 68.9%, respectively (P&lt;0.0001). In the multivariate analysis, the factors that predicted long-term death were a preprocedure echocardiographic score &gt; 8 and the presence of severe valvular mitral regurgitation during the procedure. The events that predicted combined events were a previous history of mitral valvular commissurotomy and atrial fibrillation and the presence of severe mitral valvular regurgitation during the procedure, and postprocedure mitral valvular area &lt; 1.5 m&#178; (failure). CONCLUSION: Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy is an effective procedure, and over 2/3 of the patients were event-free at the end of follow-up. Survival in the group was high, even higher in the group with lower echocardiographic scores.</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group xml:lang="en">
        <kwd>mitral valvular stenosis</kwd>
        <kwd>mitral stenosis</kwd>
        <kwd>mitral balloon valvotomy</kwd>
        <kwd>rheumatic fever</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </front-stub>
    <body>
      <p>
        <bold>ORIGINAL ARTICLE</bold>
      </p>
      <p>Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy. Long-term outcome and assessment of risk factors for death and major events</p>
      <p>Ivana Picone Borges; Edison Carvalho Sandoval Peixoto; Rodrigo Trajano Sandoval Peixoto; Paulo Sergio de Oliveira; Mario Salles Netto; Pierre Labrunie; Marta Labrunie; Ricardo Trajano Sandoval Peixoto; Ronaldo de Amorim Villela</p>
      <p>Rio de Janeiro, RJ / Niter&#243;i, RJ - Brazil</p>
      <p>Cinecor 4&#186; Centenario, Rio de Janeiro e Universidade Federal Fuminense, Niter&#243;i, Rio de Janeiro</p>
      <p>
        <xref ref-type="corresp" rid="end-body2">Correspondence</xref>
      </p>
      <p>
        <bold>ABSTRACT</bold>
      </p>
      <p><bold>OBJECTIVE: </bold>To identify the factors that predict death and combined events, (death, new mitral balloon valvotomy, or mitral valve surgery) in long-term follow-up of patients undergoing percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy. </p>
      <p><bold>METHODS:</bold> Follow-up was 49.0&#177;31.0 (1 to 122) months. Techniques used were the single-balloon (84.4%), Inoue-balloon (13.8%), and double-balloon techniques (1.7%). </p>
      <p><bold>RESULTS: </bold>Included in the study were 289 patients 38.0&#177;12.6 years of age (range, 13 to 83). Before the procedure, 244 patients had echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, and 45 patients had score &gt;8. Females comprised 85%, and 84% patients were in sinus rhythm. During follow-up, survival of the total group was 95.5%, that of the group with <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 was 98.0%, finally that of the group with scores &gt;8 was 82.2% (P&lt;0.0001), whereas combined event-free survival was 83.4%, 86.1%, and 68.9%, respectively (P&lt;0.0001). In the multivariate analysis, the factors that predicted long-term death were a preprocedure echocardiographic score &gt;8 and the presence of severe valvular mitral regurgitation during the procedure. The events that predicted combined events were a previous history of mitral valvular commissurotomy and atrial fibrillation and the presence of severe mitral valvular regurgitation during the procedure, and postprocedure mitral valvular area &lt;1.5 m<sup>2</sup> (failure). </p>
      <p><bold>CONCLUSION: </bold>Percutaneous mitral balloon valvotomy is an effective procedure, and over 2/3 of the patients were event-free at the end of follow-up. Survival in the group was high, even higher in the group with lower echocardiographic scores. </p>
      <p><bold>Key words:</bold> mitral valvular stenosis, mitral stenosis, mitral balloon valvotomy, rheumatic fever</p>
      <p> Mitral balloon valvotomy was introduced in 1984 by Inoue et al <sup>1</sup>. In 1986, McKay et al <sup>2</sup> and Palacios et al <sup>3</sup> put it into practice in the United States. In Saudi Arabia, Al Zaibag et al <sup>4</sup>, started using the double-balloon with the transseptal technique. In Brazil, dilation with the retrograde technique <sup>5,6</sup> and the transseptal technique <sup>7-9 </sup>was described in 1987.  </p>
      <p>Today, it is accepted that a similar valvular area can be obtained after percutaneous mitral-balloon valvotomy using any of these techniques<sup> 10-16</sup>. </p>
      <p>Overall survival and event-free survival varied in the groups studied, due to the clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of the patients <sup>17-24</sup>. Among the characteristics that favor a more successful outcome are: young age, satisfactory valvular anatomy, echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, presence of sinus rhythm, absence of mitral regurgitation before the procedure, and absence of surgical commissurotomy before the procedure. </p>
      <p>The primary objective of this study was to establish the factors that predict death, and combined events, (death, new mitral-balloon valvotomy, and mitral valvular surgery), in the long-term follow-up of patients undergoing percutaneous mitral-balloon valvotomy, and the secondary is to compare the clinical and echocardiographic outcomes of a group with scores <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 and another group with scores &gt; 8. </p>
      <p>
        <bold>Methods</bold>
      </p>
      <p>A prospective longitudinal study was performed in patients undergoing percutaneous balloon mitral valvotomy. </p>
      <p>Patients excluded were those with unfinished procedures and those whose procedures were finished but the follow-up did not reach a month, either due to patients being lost to follow-up or because of complications or failure followed by major events, making 1-month follow-up impossible. Follow-up was discontinued in case of death, new mitral-balloon valvotomy, or mitral valve surgery. Patients were included again in the event of a new mitral-balloon valvuloplasty. </p>
      <p>Techniques used were the single-balloon, double-balloon, and Inoue-balloon techniques, using for all the procedures a single balloon 20, 25, or 30 mm in diameter, combined 20 mm balloon with 15 mm balloon diameter or 20 mm balloon with 18 mm balloon diameter and Inoue balloons with a maximum inflation between 24 and 28 mm. If a new mitral regurgitation occurred or the level of previous mitral regurgitation worsened during the procedure, regurgitation was quantified using Sellers et al's classification<sup>25</sup>. The mean gradient before and after the procedure was measured in 2 ways: 1st) by the 3-point method<sup>26</sup> and 2nd) by planimetry of the gradient area<sup>26</sup>. The mitral valvular area before and after dilation was determined, assessing the cardiac output by thermal dilution and using Gorlin and Gorlin's formula <sup>27</sup>. The follow-up was performed by telephone or letter. The following were assessed: functional class (FC) according to NYHA, mortality and the cause of death, medication used, performance of mitral valve surgery or of new balloon mitral valvotomy. After the questionnaire was filled in, 1-dimensional and 2-dimensional Doppler echocardiogram was performed in 224 cases. Clinical evolvement of patients in the study was considered as of the first month after the procedure. Mitral valve area was assessed using planimetry or transmitral pressure half-time. Mitral valvular morphology was assessed using Wilkins' score <sup>28</sup>. The level of mitral regurgitation was assessed by Doppler echocardiography according to the extension of the regurgitant flow in the left atrium, classified as mild, moderate, and severe <sup>29</sup>. All patients underwent echocardiography before undergoing mitral valve valvuloplasty. At the beginning and end of the procedure, mitral valvular area was assessed by hemodynamic calculation <sup>25,27</sup> and the level of regurgitation by left ventriculography. </p>
      <p>Patients were also divided into 2 subgroups A and B, using Wilkins' score <sup>28</sup>. Group A with scores <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 and group B with scores &gt; 8. </p>
      <p>Success was defined as mitral valvular area <underline>&gt;</underline> 1.50 cm<sup>2</sup>, obtained after the procedure by using hemodynamic assessment without severe mitral failure. Failure was defined as mitral valvular area &lt; 1.5 cm<sup>2</sup>. </p>
      <p>Severe mitral regurgitation grade 3 or 4+ was determined by using Sellers' classification <sup>25</sup>. </p>
      <p>Comparison between continuous variables was performed using the Student <italic>t </italic>test, when the distribution was normal; otherwise, the Mann-Whitney test was used. Comparison between categorical variables was performed using the chi-square test, the chi-square test with Yates comparison, and Fisher's exact test, according to the frequency of events, using EPI INFO's software program <sup>30</sup> for the calculation and as a databank. A multivariate model of Cox's proportional risks was built to identify the independent factors predicting death and major events combined with death, new balloon mitral valvotomy, and mitral valvular surgery in a long-term follow-up, using SPSS 8 <sup>31</sup> software program. Survival and event-free survival curves were created using the Kaplan-Meier method <sup>32</sup>, and compared, using Log Rank, Breslow, and Tarone-Ware's models. Multivariate analysis <sup>33</sup> on steps was used to identify the independent factors predicting death and combined events in the long-term outcome. Relative risk of the variables related to time was assessed and the confidence Cox's regression model <sup>33</sup>. Variables that demonstrated error probability &lt; 7% (p&lt;0.07) in the univariate analysis underwent multivariate analysis. Variables selected for multivariate analysis were age, success, presence of severe mitral regurgitation after procedure, effective balloon dilation area, the diameter of the dilation balloon of the mitral valve, cardiac rhythm, history of surgical mitral commissurotomy, score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 and &gt; 8, and score <underline>&lt;</underline> 11 and &lt; 11. </p>
      <p>
        <bold>Results</bold>
      </p>
      <p>Follow-up was completed of 289 patients. All of them had a completed procedure and at least 1 month of follow-up, 49.0&#177;31.0 (1 to 122) months; 246 (85.1%) patients were females, with ages 38.0&#177;12.6 (13 to 83) years old. Four patients were in NYHA FC I (1.4%), 72 patients (24.9%) were in FC II, 184 patients (63.7%) were in FC III, and 29 patients (10.0%) were in FC IV. Forty-five patients (15.6%) had atrial fibrillation, and 244 (84.4%) had sinus rhythm. Twenty-five patients (8.7%) had a history of previous surgical commissurotomy, and 9 patients (3.1%) had mitral balloon valvotomy. The echocardiographic score ranged from 4 to 14 (7.3&#177;1.5), 244 patients (84.4%) had echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, group A, and 45 (15.6%) &gt; 8, group B. Echocardiographic mitral area, before mitral valvotomy, was 0.90&#177;0.21 cm<sup>2</sup>; in group A it was 0.93&#177;0.21 cm<sup>2</sup>, and in group B it was 0.91&#177;0.20 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0.5627). Of all the procedures, 244 (84.4%) were performed with the single-balloon, 40 (13.8%) with the Inoue, and 5 (1.7%) of 29.5&#177;1.2 mm and a maximum dilation area 6.87&#177;0.49 cm<sup>2</sup>. Mean pulmonary artery pressure, mean mitral valvular gradient and mitral valvular area before and after balloon valvotomy were 38.0&#177;14.3 and 26.7&#177;10.1 mmHg (p&lt;0.0001), 19.2&#177;7.0 and 5.4&#177;3.5 mmHg (p&lt;0.0001), and 0.90&#177;0.21 and 2.00&#177;0.39 cm<sup>2 </sup>(p=0.0139), respectively. Of all the procedures, 261 were successful (90.4%) and 19 (6.6%) were unsuccessful; mitral valvular area after mitral balloon valvotomy was not assessed in 9 procedures (3.1%). Before mitral valvotomy, grade 1+ mitral regurgitation was present in 44 patients (15.2%), grade 2+ in 1 patient (0.3%), and the valve was competent in 244 patients (84.4%). After mitral valvotomy, the valve was competent in 207 (71.6%) patients, and grade 1+ mitral regurgitation occurred in 61 patients (21.1%), grade 2+ in 18 patients (6.2%), grade 3+ in 2 patients (0.7%), and grade 4+ in 1 patient (0.3%). Severe complications occurred in 5 patients of the 289 patients, 3 patients (1.0%) had severe mitral regurgitation, and 2 patients had cardiac tamponade, drained in the hemodynamic room. All patients remained with clinical evolvement for at least 1 month without a surgical procedure for mitral valve replacement. </p>
      <p>In the final follow-up lasting 49.0&#177;31.0 (1 to 122) months, NYHA FC was I in 141 (48.8%) patients, FC II in 82 patients (28.4%), FC III in 49 patients (17.0%), and FC IV in 4 patients (1.4%), with 13 (4.5%) deaths. Group A, with 244 patients, had, according to the NYHA, 124 patients in FC I, 69 in FC II, 43 in FC III, 3 in FC IV with 5 deaths, and group B, with 45 patients, had 17 in FC I, 13 in FC II, 6 FC III, 1 in FC IV with 8 deaths (p= 0.0001). Echocardiography was performed at the end of follow-up in 244 patients with mitral area 1.56&#177;0.49 cm<sup>2</sup>; 97 (44.1%) of the 244 patients had valvular area &lt; 1.50 cm<sup>2</sup>; in group A it was 1.58&#177;0.50 cm<sup>2</sup>, and in group B it was 1.42&#177;0.39 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0.1042). Preprocedure mean mitral valvular area assessed through echocardiography was 0.93&#177;0.21cm<sup>2</sup> and 0.91&#177;0.20 (p=0.5627) in groups A and B, respectively (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab01-body2">tab. I</xref>). Mean mitral valve area, assessed through the hemodynamic method (Gorlin), before balloon valvotomy was 0.90&#177;0.22 and 0.94&#177;0.21 (p=0.2075), respectively, in groups A and B (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab01-body2">tab. I</xref>). Mitral valvular area (Gorlin), immediately after balloon mitral valvotomy was higher in group A 2.03&#177;0.39 cm<sup>2</sup> compared with that in group B 1.83&#177;0.37 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0.0016). In the 224 patients undergoing echocardiography during follow-up, the mitral valve was competent in 60 patients (26.8%), and grade 1+ mitral regurgitation was present in 118 patients (52.7%), grade 2+ in 24 patients (10.7%), grade 3+ in 12 patients (5.4%), and grade 4+ in 10 patients (4.5%). Three patients with severe mitral regurgitation started follow-up, and all of them died, one during the surgical procedure. During follow-up, 19 new cases of severe mitral regurgitation occurred, 9 patients underwent surgery with one death, and 10 had clinical evolvement or waited for surgery. Fourteen patients (4.8%) underwent new mitral balloon valvotomy; 27 patients (9.3%) underwent mitral valve surgery, 16 due to mitral stenosis, 6 due to severe mitral regurgitation; and 5 due to double mitral lesion. During follow-up, 13 deaths (4.5%) occurred, 11 (3.8%) due to heart problems, 1 (0.7%) due to stroke, and 1 (0.7%) had no reported cause. Of the cardiac deaths, 6 occurred during mitral valve replacement, 4 due to acute pulmonary edema, and 1 due to heart failure. Late mortality was greater in group B, with 8 deaths (17.8%) in 45 patients, versus 5 deaths (3.5%) in 244 patients in group A (p=0.0001) (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab01-body2">tab. I</xref>). In the total group, 48 (16.6%) combined events occurred. At the end of follow-up, however, number of combined events was lower in group A, 34 events (13.9%) compared with those in group B, 14 events (31.1%), p=0.0010 (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab01-body2">tab. I</xref>). Survival of the total group at the end of the study was 95.5%. In group A, it was 98.0%, greater than in group B, where it was 82.2% (p=0.0001). Event-free survival of the total group was 83.4%, and in group A it was 86.1% greater than that in group B, 68.9% (p=0.0010). </p>
      <table-wrap id="tab01-body2">
        <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gt01-en.jpg"/></table-wrap>
      <p>Factors predicting long-term survival in the univariate analysis were echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 (p=0.0001), echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 11 (p&lt;0.0001) age of the patient &lt; 50 years old (p=0.0016), absence of severe mitral regurgitation per procedure (p&lt;0.0001), sinus rhythm (p=0.0034), mitral balloon diameter <underline>&gt;</underline> 28 mm (p=0.0005), mitral dilation effective area &gt; 6 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0.0005) and mitral valve area (Gorlin) <underline>&gt;</underline> 1.5 cm<sup>2 </sup>(success) (p=0.0065). </p>
      <p>Factors predicting combined event free survival in the univariate analysis were: sinus rhythm (p=0.0005); mitral dilation balloon diameter <underline>&gt;</underline> 28 mm (p=0.0005); effective area of mitral dilation <underline>&gt;</underline> 6 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0.0036) and mitral valve area <underline>&gt;</underline> 1.5 cm<sup>2</sup> (p&lt;0.0001), echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 (p=0.0017); echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 11 (p&lt;0.0001); absence of previous surgical mitral commissurotomy (p=0.0235), absence of severe mitral regurgitation per procedure (p&lt;0.0001) and age of the patient &lt; 50 years old (p=0.0013). </p>
      <p>In the multivariate analysis factors predicting long term survival were: echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 (p=0.0003) and absence of severe mitral regurgitation during mitral valvotomy (p=0.0001) and event free survival: absence of severe mitral regurgitation after balloon valvotomy (p=0.0038), absence of previous surgical mitral commissurotomy (p=0.0077), mitral valve area assessed through hemodynamic after the procedure <underline>&gt;</underline> 1.5 cm<sup>2</sup> (p=0.0005) and sinus rhythm (p=0.0220), (<xref ref-type="table" rid="tab02-body2">tab. II</xref>). </p>
      <table-wrap id="tab02-body2">
        <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gt02-en.jpg"/></table-wrap>
      <p>There was a significant difference in the survival Kaplan-Meier curves (<italic>log rank</italic>) for: echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 and echocardiographic score &gt; 8 (p&lt;0.0001), presence or absence of severe mitral regurgitation during procedure (p&lt;0.0001) and event free survival for: presence or absence of previous commissurotomy (p=0.0191), presence or absence of severe mitral regurgitation per procedure (p&lt;0.0001), sinus rhythm or atrial fibrillation (p= 0.0011), (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig01-body2">fig. 1</xref>) and mitral valve area after the procedure using Gorlin's method &lt; 1.5 cm<sup>2 </sup>and <underline>&gt;</underline> 1.5 cm<sup>2 </sup>(p&lt;0.0001), all of them were significant variables in the multivariate analysis. Additionally the patients' survival and event free survival curves were studied. They were divided into 3 score groups: echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, from 9 to 11, and <underline>&gt;</underline> 12 (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig02-body2">fig. 2</xref> and <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig03-body2">3</xref>), all of them with diverse outcomes and statistical significance. </p>
      <fig id="fig01-body2">
        <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gf01-en.jpg"/></fig>
      <fig id="fig02-body2">
        <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gf02-en.jpg"/></fig>
      <fig id="fig03-body2">
        <graphic xlink:href="1678-4170-abc-84-05-0397-00009-gf03-en.jpg"/></fig>
      <p>
        <bold>Discussion</bold>
      </p>
      <p>Mitral balloon valvotomy arose as an alternative to surgical treatment in patients with severe mitral stenosis. It is necessary to know the factors predicting death and major events in order to indicate this procedure as accurately as possible. Population is different in age, clinical and echocardiographic characteristics among the countries in Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and South America. </p>
      <p>Studies with the analysis of the outcome from different periods of follow-up are found in the literature, these studies range from 1 to 12 years of follow-up after the performance of mitral balloon valvotomy <sup>17,18,21,24,34-42</sup>. </p>
      <p>Mean age of our patients was 38.0&#177;12.6 years old, it was in the middle compared to countries such as India<sup>43</sup> (26 years old, was the mean age in the study of Kaul et al<sup>43</sup>), Tunis<sup>16,17</sup>, and Egypt<sup>44</sup> (29 years old, was the mean age in the study of Zaki et al<sup>44</sup>) with younger patients, and the mean ages of countries in Europe<sup>20,37,45</sup>, United States<sup>24,46</sup>, and Japan<sup>38,47</sup>, with much older patients. In the American studies of Palacios et al<sup>24</sup>, Cohen et al<sup>48</sup>, and Pathan et al<sup>49</sup> mean age of patients studied was 55, 59, and 58 years old, respectively. Two Japanese studies<sup>38,47</sup> presented mean ages of patients 51 and 52 years old. </p>
      <p>Women were predominantly, corresponding to 85.1% of the patients in this study, which is in accordance with the literature<sup>16,17,24,36,38,40</sup>. </p>
      <p>Previously to balloon mitral valvotomy, most patients were in NYHA FC III (63.7%), and IV (10%), 73.7% total, also in accordance with the literature <sup>17,24,37,49</sup>. Currently, patients in NYHA FC II and, exceptionally, those in FC I are accepted to undergo balloon mitral valvotomy<sup>17, 49, 50</sup>. In the end of follow-up, 77.2% of patients were in FC I and II, 26.6% were not given any medication, and 18.4% of patients were in FC III, and IV. Farhat et al <sup>16</sup> observed that 95% of patients were in FC I and II after 37&#177;22 months of follow-up and. After a 7 year-follow-up of a selected population with favorable characteristics, 93.6% of the population was in FC I and FC II <sup>17</sup>. Iung et al <sup>20</sup> found 56% of patients in FC I and FC II, after a 10-year-follow-up. However, when they studied a population of patients with calcified valve<sup>22</sup> they observed that only 36% of them were in FC I and II, after 8 year of follow up. </p>
      <p>Most patients (84%) in this study were in sinus rhythm when mitral valvotomy was indicated. Farhat et al <sup>16</sup> reported 71% of patients in sinus rhythm before the procedure both studies had a young population. Studies with an older population<sup>24</sup> usually have a higher echocardiographic score and higher incidence of atrial fibrillation. Some authors stress that the presence of atrial fibrillation is a factor that would predict events in long-term follow-up <sup>20,22,23,51 </sup>which is in accordance with our study (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig01-body2">fig. 1</xref>), however, other authors do not agree with that premise <sup>24,36,37,49,39,52,53</sup>. </p>
      <p>In this study and in the literature, mitral balloon valvotomy immediately decreases left atrium pressure and pulmonary vessels, enabling relieve of symptoms immediately <sup>16,18,23,24,48,54-57</sup>. There was a decrease in pulmonary pressure in the presence of severe hypertension even in the presence of elevated systemic levels <sup>57</sup>. </p>
      <p>In the present study, 84.4% of patients presented echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 before the procedure, in accordance with the other in the literature <sup>24,54,58</sup>. The group of patients with echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 presented more satisfactory immediate results (p=0.0016), just as those in the literature <sup>24,36,54,58</sup>. When functional class and long-term death were assessed, the group with lower score presented a more favorable outcome (p=0.0001). These patients were younger, with higher incidence of atrial fibrillation, lower calcification; lower Functional Class, lower level of mitral regurgitation before the procedure, and lower incidence of previous surgical commissurotomy. Despite the less satisfactory results, in the group with echocardiographic score &gt;8, when compared to the group with lower score, our study demonstrated that mitral balloon valvotomy is an alternative to mitral stenosis treatment, with good results, even though they may be inferior to the other group, especially when the echocardiographic score is <underline>&lt;</underline> 11. Palacios et al <sup>24</sup> demonstrated statistically significant difference in the success rate of the procedure for the group with score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, related to mortality, need for mitral valve surgery and incidence of FC III and IV greater, in the long term, in the group with echocardiographic score &gt;8 <sup>24</sup>. Hildick-Smith et al <sup>36</sup>, had successful results in 61% of cases, and a 6-year-event-free-survival in 56% of cases in a group of patients with unfavorable characteristics to procedure, including 59% of patients with echocardiographic score &gt;8. </p>
      <p>In this study, mitral valve was competent before the procedure in 84.4% of cases, and the rest were divided into grade 1+ or grade 2+ mitral regurgitation according to the classification of Sellers et al <sup>25</sup>. After the procedure, 71.6% of patients remained with competent mitral valve and 1% of patients followed-up for at least one month presented severe mitral regurgitation. This percentage of mitral regurgitation does not reflect our total group, where the incidence of severe mitral regurgitation was 2.5%<sup>42</sup>. Palacios et al <sup>24</sup> obtained 9.4% of severe mitral regurgitation after the procedure higher in the group with echocardiographic score &gt;8. In the study by Hernandez et al <sup>37</sup> the incidence of this complication was 4%, in the study by Kaul et al <sup>43</sup> it was 3.3%, in that by Iung et al <sup>45</sup> it was 4%, and in that by Farhat et al it was 4.6% <sup>16</sup>. </p>
      <p>Just as occurred in this study, the authors identified this complication as a factor predicting long term events<sup>23,24,37,40,53,59</sup>. Zhang et al <sup>23</sup> compared patients with or without mitral regurgitation before the procedure, and observed that patients with pre-existing mitral regurgitation were older and presented more events in the long term outcome. Hernandez et al <sup>37</sup> found 4% of severe mitral regurgitation after the procedure unrelated to age or echocardiographic score and cases of mild or moderate mitral regurgitation after the procedure, with likelihood to regress or at least not worsen. Leaflets rupture led to severe mitral regurgitation and need for emergency surgery in all patients <sup>43</sup>. There was a decrease in the level of mitral regurgitation over time in 1.6% of patients, and probably the regurgitation mechanism was the consequence of the intensive stretching of mitral commissurotomy <sup>37,43</sup>. Severe mitral regurgitation may be predicted, through echocardiographic score specific to it<sup>60</sup>. Mitral regurgitation before balloon valvuloplasty is a factor that predicts lower long term event free survival<sup>23</sup>, in older patients usually presenting mitral calcification and atrial fibrillation, compared to patients without concomitant mitral regurgitation. In our study, only 224 patients underwent echocardiogram in late follow-up and it was observed that 26.8% still presented competent mitral valve and there were 9.9% cases of severe mitral regurgitation. Three patients with severe mitral regurgitation in the post immediate period were maintained in this study for at least 1 month, and 19 new cases of severe mitral regurgitation were identified during our follow-up (7.79%). Kaul et al <sup>43</sup> found 3.3% cases of severe mitral regurgitation in the post immediate period, 55% needed emergency valve replacement and, in the end of follow-up, they observed 8.4% of cases with severe mitral regurgitation, and 37.66% of cases requiring mitral valve surgery. </p>
      <p>In the end of follow-up, through echocardiogram, mean mitral valve area was 1.56&#177;0.49 cm<sup>2</sup>, 1.58&#177;0.50 cm<sup>2</sup> in the group with echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 and 1.42&#177;0.39 cm<sup>2</sup> in the group with echocardiographic score &gt;8 (p=0.1042). There was a 0.44 cm<sup>2</sup> loss of mitral valve area, on average in 49&#177;31 months, in the total group. Mitral valve area immediately after the procedure assessed by hemodynamic (Gorlin<sup>27</sup>) was on average 2.00&#177; 0.39 cm<sup>2</sup>, with statistically significant difference between the 2 groups, higher in the group with echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8. Loss of mitral area may be a result of rheumatic disease development, and/or presence of blood flow turbulence in the deformed valves<sup>61</sup>. After mitral valvuloplasty, Hernandez et al <sup>37</sup> found a &gt;0.3 cm<sup>2</sup> mitral valve area loss in 12%, 22%, and 27% of patients in 3, 5, and 7 years respectively, on average, 0.13&#177;0.21 cm<sup>2</sup>. Loss of valve mitral area in the literature ranged from 0.16 to 0.4 cm<sup>2</sup> for diverse groups and in different outcome periods <sup>17,38,49,62,63</sup>. Loss of mitral valve area, in the study of Wang et al <sup>46</sup>, was 0.06 cm<sup>2</sup> per year after the performance of balloon valvuloplasty. We could observe in our study, in the end of the follow up period, 97 patients (44.1%) with mitral valve areas smaller than 1.50 cm<sup>2</sup>. This criterion was used in the study to define restenosis, and it was the same adopted by other authors<sup>17,51</sup>. Mitral restenosis occurred in 44.1% of patients in a mean 49&#177;31 follow-up period in this study, defined as mitral valve area &lt; 1.50 cm<sup>2</sup>. In the literature we have observed different restenosis frequency among the studies, ranging from 36 months to 7 years as well as different population and restenosis criteria. Restenosis definition may be done clinically or in terms of mitral valve area, by absolute loss or percentual loss, or loss of mitral valve gain after balloon valvuloplasty<sup>16-18,36,37,46,47,51</sup>; the definition of restenosis varies among authors, usually it is referred as loss of 50% or over of the initial gain and/or mitral valve area &lt; 1.5 cm<sup>2</sup>. Wang et al <sup>46 </sup>observed gradual and progressive loss of the mitral valve area, after balloon mitral valvuloplasty and absence of correlation between mitral valve area after the procedure and restenosis, suggesting that it is a part of an ongoing biological process rather than a mechanical or retraction process. </p>
      <p>In the present study there were 13 cases (4.5%) of death in the end of the follow-up period, 11 (3.8%) had cardiac origin, and 46.15% of the cardiac deaths occurred in mitral valve surgery, performed in different hospitals. Farhat et al <sup>16</sup> found 7 cases (1.6%) in the end of the 37&#177;22 month-period, and another study of the same authors <sup>17</sup>, with young patients with favorable characteristics, mortality was null in 7 years. Meneveau et al <sup>21</sup> found a 6% mortality in 3 years, reaching 17% in 7 years and a half of follow-up. Palacios et al <sup>24 </sup>found 13.03% of death in a follow-up of 4.2&#177;3.7 years, 10.07% had cardiac origin. Hildick-Smith et al <sup>36</sup> studied a population of patients with unfavorable characteristics for the performance of balloon mitral valve valvuloplasty and observed a mortality of 3%, 12%, and 18% in 1, 3 and 6 years, respectively. Hernandez et al <sup>37</sup> found 5% of death in 39&#177;23 months, 3.3% had cardiac origin. Hamasaki et al <sup>38</sup> found a mortality of 2%, 7%, and 14% in 1, 5 and 10 years, respectively, of follow-up. Wang et al <sup>46</sup> found 11 deaths (3.58%), only 2 (18%) had cardiac origin. Iung et al <sup>45</sup> found 0.4% of deaths during outcome. In this study when both echocardiographic score groups were compared, higher mortality was observed in the group with echocardiographic score &gt;8, 17.8% against 3.5% in the group with echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 (p=0.0001). Palacios et al <sup>24</sup> also found higher mortality in the group with higher echocardiographic score. Thus, reported mortality during outcome is null in groups selected with favorable medium term <sup>64,65</sup>, and even long term<sup>17</sup> characteristics. Mortality reached 17 and 18% <sup>21,36</sup>, due to the unfavorable characteristics or when greater follow-up period were observed. </p>
      <p>In the long-term follow-up, survival varied considerably, from 82% to 100% in 5 to 7 year-follow-up <sup>17,18,21,34,36,37,38</sup>, probably due to clinical and echocardiographic difference of the population studied. In a longer period between 10 to 12 years of follow-up, survival reported is 82% and 86%<sup>24,38</sup>. Long term results are less satisfactory in Europe and North America<sup>,24,45,48,54</sup>, with older patients and more involved valve anatomy. Survival in this study, in the end of follow-up was 95.5% in the total group of patients, 98% in the echocardiographic score group <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, higher than that of the group with echocardiographic score &gt;8, which was 82.8% (p&lt;0.0001). </p>
      <p>Event free survival in this study, in the end of follow-up was 83.4% greater in group A (86.1%) when compared to group B (68.9%), (p&lt;0.0001). In the literature, we have found percentages ranging from 16% to 90% with follow-up ranging from 4 to 12 years<sup>17,18-24,37,45,47,48,66</sup>, due to the difference of the groups of patients. Iung et al <sup>45</sup> found a 58% event free survival in 8 years of follow-up, however those were patients undergoing balloon mitral valvuloplasty because of reestenosis after surgical commissurotomy. Farhat et al <sup>17</sup> found a 90% event free survival in 7 years, in a group of young patients, just as did Zaki et al <sup>18</sup>, who found 91% in 5 years. Sutaria et al <sup>19</sup> found event free survival of 36% of elders in 5 years, in a 6-year- follow-up, Saeki et al <sup>47</sup> found 88% of event free survival, and Iung et al.<sup>20</sup>, in a 10-year-follow-up found 56.4% event free survival. Maneveau et al <sup>21</sup> compared event free survival of the group with favorable mitral valve anatomy, with that of the group with unfavorable, and they found 70% and 16%, respectively, in 7 years of follow up. Iung et at <sup>22</sup>, found 36% in 8 years, in patients with calcified valves. Zhang et al <sup>23</sup> found event free survival in a 6-year-period in a group with mitral regurgitation in 37% of patients and in 69% in the group without mitral regurgitation. Palacios et al <sup>24</sup>, in a 12-year-follow-up, found a 38% event free survival, in the group with echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8, and 22% in the group with increase score. Hernandez et al <sup>37</sup> found 69% event free survival in a 7-year-follow-up, in patients with low score, whereas Cohen et al <sup>48</sup> found 51%, in a 6-year-follow-up, in patients with low echocardiographic score and increased age. Dean et al <sup>66</sup>, in the Record of NHLBI, found a 60% event free survival in a 4 year-follow-up. </p>
      <p>Through multivariate analysis, we have observed in the present study that only echocardiographic score &gt;8 and the presence of severe mitral regurgitation before mitral balloon valvuloplasty are independent factors predicting death in long term follow up In the literature, Dean et al <sup>66</sup> found age &gt;70 years old, FC IV before the procedure and echocardiographic score &gt;12 as factors predicting death using univariate analysis, in a 4-year-follow-up. Using multivariate analysis, the independent factors predicting death found were echocardiographic score, FC IV before the procedure, high echocardiographic score, increased systolic pulmonary blood pressure, and end diastolic left ventricle pressure after the procedure. Palacios et al <sup>54</sup> found as independent factor predicting death in the multivariate analysis, echocardiographic score, increased age of the patients and high functional class before the procedure. </p>
      <p>In the multivariate analysis, independent factors predicting death in the long term follow up in this study were: history of surgical mitral commissurotomy, atrial fibrillation before the procedure, severe mitral regurgitation during the procedure, and procedure failure (mitral valve area &lt;1.50 cm<sup>2</sup>). In the literature independent factors for events are: lower mitral valve area after the procedure<sup>20,37,40,45,59,67</sup>, atrial fibrillation<sup>20,22,23,51</sup>, history of surgical mitral commissurotomy<sup>24,45,46,53,54</sup>, presence of severe mitral regurgitation after the procedure<sup>20,24,37,40,46,53,59,67</sup>, increased functional class before the procedure<sup>20,22,24,48,54</sup>, increased echocardiographic score before the procedure<sup>23,24,36,37,40,48,54</sup>, increased age<sup>20,21,22,23,24,54</sup>, unfavorable mitral valve anatomy<sup>20,21,22,23,38,59</sup>, increased mean pulmonary blood pressure after the procedure<sup>21,24,40</sup>, increased transvalvular gradient after the procedure<sup>20,21,22,46,51</sup>, increased left atrium pressure after the procedure or enlarged left atrium<sup>36,46,59</sup>, male gender<sup>36</sup>, increased cardiac thoracic index<sup>21,45</sup>, presence of co-morbidities<sup>36</sup>, and increased final left ventricle pressure<sup>48</sup>. </p>
      <p>The present study concluded that mitral balloon valvuloplasty is an efficient procedure. Survival and event free survival combined with death, new mitral balloon valvuloplasty and mitral surgery were high at the end of the follow-up period, and more than two third of the total group of patients were event free by the end of the study. In the patients with echocardiographic score <underline>&lt;</underline> 8 before the procedure compared with the score group &gt; 8, survival and event free survival observed were significantly greater. Echocardiographic score also separates 3 groups with different survival curves (<underline>&lt;</underline> 8, between 9 and 11 and <underline>&gt;</underline> 12), (<xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig02-body2">fig. 2</xref> and <xref ref-type="fig" rid="fig03-body2">3</xref>). Echocardiographic score higher than 8 and the presence of severe mitral regurgitation were risk factors for death in the long term follow-up. The history of surgical mitral commissurotomy, presence of atrial fibrillation before the procedure, mitral valve regurgitation during the procedure, atrial fibrillation before the procedure, severe mitral regurgitation during the procedure and mitral valve area lower than 1.5 cm<sup>2</sup> after the procedure, were risk factors for combined events in the end of the follow-up period of these patients.</p>
      <p>
        <bold>References</bold>
      </p>
      <p>
        <fn id="end-body2" fn-type="corresp">
          <p>Correspondence to</p>
          <p> Edison Carvalho Sandoval Peixoto</p>
          <p> Av. Epit&#225;cio Pessoa, 4986/301 </p>
          <p> Cep 22471-003 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ - Brazil </p>
          <p> E-mail: </p>
          <p>
            <email xlink:href="e.sandoval.p@openlink.com.br">e.sandoval.p@openlink.com.br</email>
          </p>
        </fn>
      </p>
      <p>Received for publication: 04/11/2004</p>
      <p> Accepted for publication: 08/25/2004</p>
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