The surgical treatment of mitral stenosis.

A surgical procedure known as commissurotomy, devised by Bailey for the relief of certain cases of mitral stenosis, gives promise of considerable benefit to a large number of patients who have the disease. The technique of the operation involves the introduction of the right index finger and an especially designed valvulotome through the left auricular appendage into the left auricle. The mitral valve commissures are then divided. Twentyfive cases of mitral stenosis in which this operation was performed are discussed.