Assessment of quality of life before and after successful percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy in patients with severe mitral stenosis

BACKGROUND: Rheumatic mitral stenosis (MS) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in India. Percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC) has become the procedure of choice for severe MS with pliable leaflets. Despite a wealth of literature on the technical aspects of PTMC, there is a dearth of literature addressing the impact of PTMC on the quality of life (QOL). AIM: The aim of the study is to assess the impact of PTMC on clinical status and QOL of patients with severe MS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-five consecutive patients with severe MS undergoing PTMC were included in the study with their informed consent. All patients were subjected to routine blood tests, electrocardiogram, chest X-ray, two-dimensional and color echocardiography, treadmill test (TMT), and World Health Organization (WHO) QOL scale. The echocardiography, TMT, and WHOQOL scale were repeated after the procedure. RESULTS: < 0.001 highly significant). CONCLUSIONS: PTMC resulted in a significant improvement in the QOL of patients with severe MS. The significant improvement in QOL post-PTMC may be an indication for offering PTMC at an earlier stage to those patients whose QOL is severely compromised.