HLickgroiinti: Pregnancy can cause life-threatening coniplications in women with mitral stenosis. Frequently. there is an urgent need to increase the mitral valve area mechanically. In selected cases, percutaneous initral balloon vulvotomy (PMBV) has emerged as a safe andeft'ective alternative to surgical commissurotom y. Hypotfwsis: The study evaluates the effects of PMRV by the Inoue technique in nine pregnant patients with severe symptomatic initral stenosis. Methods: The patients were in New York Heart Association (NY HA) functional class I1 to JV and had echocardiographic scores of< 8. The mean gestational age was 74.8 .+ 6.1 weeks. The patient's pelvic and abdominal regions were covered with a lead apron to protect the fetus from radiation. A stepwise dilatation technique was used. Fluoroscopy time was kept to 10 to 15 min. h'iw/ts: One patient developed severe niitral regurgitation requiring emergency valve replacement. The remaining eight patients showed marked immediate symptomatic and hemodynamic improvement. After dilatation. the transniitral pressure gradient decreased from 20.8 2 6.5 to 7.3 f I .4 mnHg (p = 0.00 I) and the calculated niitral valve area increased from 0.9 +. 0.1 to 1.8 +. 0.4 (p < 0.00 I). All patients had uneventful term deliveries of norinal babies. On follow-up they were in NYHA functional class I. Cow/usiom: Percutaneous mi tral balloon valvotomy is a safe and effective procedure for selected pregnant patients with severe initral stenosis. The procedure is well tolerated by the fetus. Severe mitral regurgitation requiring immediate surgery may occur occasionally. The possible harmful effects to the fetus from its exposure to radiation during PMBV are unknown.

Kaposi varicelliform eruption (KVE) is the name given to a distinct cutaneous eruption caused by Herpesvirus hominis types 1 and 2, vaccinia virus, or coxsackie A16 virus, superimposed on a preexisting dermatosis. A delay in diagnosing this condition may result in intense pain and rapid spread of the cutaneous lesions. We report a patient who underwent perioral dermabrasion for wrinkles who developed KVE secondary to herpes simplex virus infection.

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Tissue expansion has a role in surgical management of AKN. Staged excision, skin grafting, and nonsurgical treatments are also options, however they must be individualized to the case at hand.

Oral cefadroxil in doses of 0-6-1-8 g per day given on twice or three times daily schedules was effective in the treatment of thirty-six patients with infections such as abscesses, carbuncles, cellulitis, furunculosis and impetigo. Staphylococcus aureus strains and beta-haemolytic streptococci, alone or in combination, were cultured from lesions before treatment. In vitro studies with test discs showed that all the organisms were sensitive to cefadroxil, but twenty-three of twenty-nine S aureus strains and one of the seven streptococci strains were resistant to penicillin G. Pre- and post-treatment laboratory tests of renal, hepatic and haematopoietic functions produced no evidence of drug toxicity. The cefadroxil dosage effective in this study is lower than that recommended for currently available oral cephalosporins, which must be given on a four times daily schedule.