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 percuta-neous mitral balloon valvotomy. Methods Follow-up was 49.0±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±12.6 years of age (range, 13 to 83). Before the procedure, 244 patients had echocardiographic score ≤ 8, and 45 patients had score>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 ≤ 8 was 98.0%, finally that of the group with scores>8 was 82.2 % (P<0.0001), whereas combine