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Finger fracture mitral valvuloplasty: a tribute to the pioneers of cardiac surgery

John S Murala, Hugh D Wolfenden, George S Youssef and Daniel Friedman
Med J Aust 2007; 186 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb01066.x
Published online: 4 June 2007

To the Editor: We report an exceptional case of a woman who underwent emergency “finger fracture valvuloplasty” (FFV) in 1954 to treat rheumatic mitral stenosis and required no further surgical intervention for 51 years.


  • 1 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW.
  • 2 Department of Cardiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, NSW.



  • 1. Hall GV, Windsor HM. Mitral valvotomy for mitral stenosis: an analysis of 104 cases from this viewpoint. Med J Aust 1956; 43: 558-567.
  • 2. Bland EF. Surgery for mitral stenosis. Circulation 1952; 5: 290-299.
  • 3. Marshall RJ, Pantridge JF. Mitral valvotomy during pregnancy. Br Med J 1957; 1: 1097-1099.
  • 4. Windsor HM. Mitral valvotomy — its evolution to the open operation. Med J Aust 1963; 1: 232-236.
  • 5. Khan MN. The relief of mitral stenosis. An historic step in cardiac surgery. Tex Heart Inst J 1996; 23: 258-266.

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