Six patients with mitral valve stenosis underwent percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV) in our department between November 1992 and December 1997. Five patients had rheumatic mitral valve stenosis and one had congenital mitral valve stenosis and Eisenmenger's syndrome with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). Functional status before PBMV was class IV in two patients, class III in two patients, and class II-III in two patients, as classified by the New York Heart Association (NYHA). The mean diastolic pressure gradient across the mitral valve measured during heart catheterization before and immediately after PBMV was 18.8 ±10.42 and 9.4 ±7.7 mmHg, respectively (p