Echocardiographic Evaluation of the Mitral Valve Area Before and After Percutaneous Mitral Commissurotomy: The Pressure Half-time Method Revisited

For MVA assessment, the PHT method should be used cautiously even before PMC, especially in older patients or those in atrial fibrillation. After PMC, it does not provide an accurate MVA evaluation but can still be used as a semiquantitative method: a PHT less than 130 milliseconds is associated with a good valve opening, which can be useful in difficult cases.