Debranching and Endovascular Repair for Kommerell's Diverticulum Involving Right-Sided Aortic Arch with Mirror Image Branching / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

A 71-year-old man with an abnormal shadow on chest x-ray was given a diagnosis of Kommerell's diverticulum involving the right-sided aortic arch with mirror image branching. Furthermore, mild funnel chest had been seen on CT scan more than 10 years earlier. The patient was followed up because there were no symptoms ; the Kommerell's diverticulum expanded to reach 63 mm in diameter. To eliminate the risk of rupture, we performed thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) with a commercially available device, consisting of bypass grafting of the supra-aortic branches. The patient was discharged from the hospital in good clinical condition, with no signs of endoleak and currently shows no indications of device migration. We thus concluded that debranching TEVAR for Kommerell's diverticulum with right-sided aortic arch is minimally invasive, safe, and effective. Availability of this device that has a new performance feature is expected to improve treatment results and lead to advances in minimally invasive endovascular repair.

A Successful Case of Axillo-Axillary Bypass Grafting with Mild Hypothermia for High-Risk Subclavian Steal Syndrome / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

A 67-year-old man, who had suffered from right cerebral infarction that resulted in left hemiparesis, underwent right superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery anastomosis in 1991. From March 2000, dizziness occurred during use of his right hand. His arteriogram revealed late filling of the occluded right subclavian artery by reversed flow from the right vertebral artery and 50% stenosis of the left internal carotid artery. We performed subcutaneous axillo-axillary bypass grafting with mild hypothermia on June 1st, 2000. An 8mm ePTFE tube with a ring was anastomosed to both axillary arteries in end-to-side fashion with continuous sutures. Thereafter, symptoms disappeared. One month after the procedure, his arteriogram showed that the bypass filled the right vertebral artery in an antegrade fashion as well as the right axillary artery. Axillo-axillary bypass grafting with mild hypothermia seemed to be safe and effective for high-risk subclavian steal syndrome.

Long Term Clinical Results in Axillofemoral Bypass for Aortoiliac Occlusive Disease, Especially in Terms of QOL / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

The purpose of this study is to clarify the appropriateness of axillofemoral bypass for high-risk patients with aortoiliac occlusive disease. From February 1986 through November 1997, 50 axillofemoral bypasses were performed at our institution. The mean age of patients was 70.3± 9.6 years (range 28 to 86 years) and 90% of them had severe associated disease. Twenty-nine grafts had axillounifemoral configuration and 21 grafts had axillobifemoral configuration. The primary and secondary patency rate, during this 11-year period (mean follow-up 47.0±30.1months), were 66.4 % and 78.3% at 5 years, with no change thereafter. The mortality rate within 30days was 2%. During the follow-up period 22 died mainly due to heart disease, cerebrovascular disease or malignant tumor, and the survival rate at 5 years was 56.3%. Fontaine classification evaluation revealed that ischemic symptoms improved in 78% of 28 survivors. According to QOL study 75% of survivors were satisfied with daily life, and their performance status improved after operation. These findings indicate that axillofemoral bypass may be an appropriate procedure for high risk patients with aortoiliac occlusive disease.

Acute High Aortic Occlusion with Aplastic Anemia / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

A 67-year-old man had been diagnosed as having aplastic anemia three years ago. He had taken anabolic steroids continuously. He suddenly complained of the ischemic signs of the lower extremities. Aortography showed the total occlusion of the abdominal aorta with encroachment upon the left renal artery. The right renal artery and superior mesenteric artery were intact. Laboratory data showed acute renal failure. We selected an axillo-femoral bypass because of aplastic anemia and acute renal failure. Throughout the intraoperative and post-operative periods the patient showed a bleeding tendency, then disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) has occurred. He required much blood transfusion, anti-coagulant drugs and hemodialysis post-operatively and finally recovered from acute renal failure and DIC.

Clinical Experiences of Dissecting Aortic Aneurysm with Organ Ischemia / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

We studied 6 surgical cases of dissecting aortic aneurysm with organ ischemia, consisting of 4 cases of DeBakey type I dissection and 2 cases of DeBakey type III b dissection and the average age was 62 years old. The ischemic organs were, the brain and upper extremities, intestine and kidney, kidney, kidney and lower extremity, and bilateral lower extremities, respectively. We performed the graft replacements of the ascending aorta or ascending aorta and arch for DeBakey type I dissection, and bypass or Y-graft replacement for DeBakey type III b dissection. In one case of DeBakey type I dissection we performed a second Y-graft replacement two days after the first operation. MNMS (myonephropathic metabolic syndrome) developed in two cases of 3 lower extremity ischemia. The results were unsatisfactory because 3 patients died. To improve of the outcome of surgical treatment in case of dissecting aortic aneurysm with organ ischemia, preoperative appropriate diagnosis and appropriate surgical planning are necessary.

Three Operations Following Conservative Therapy in Patients with Stanford A Type Acute Thrombosed Aortic Dissection / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

We performed 3 operations for Stanford A type aortic dissections which were confirmed as acute thrombosed type by contrast chest CT. Initially conservative therapy was chosen in all patients. In case 1, a 64-year-old woman received ascending aortic replacement with a Hemashield^® vascular prosthesis 3 days after admission, because of increasing diameter of the ascending aorta and sustained back pain. In case 2, a 54-year-old woman, we replaced the total aortic arch with Hemashield^® graft, on an emergency basis since recanalization of the false lumen was revealed by contrast CT and D.S.A. 3 days after admission. In case 3, a 52-year-old woman, cardiac tamponade occured on the 30th admission day even though anti-hypertensive treatment had been effectively performed immediately after onset. Emergency D.S.A. revealed an“ulcer like projection” in the ascending aorta, so following pericardiocentesis, we resected and directly anastomosed the ascending aorta at the entry site 34 days after onset. Generally, acute thrombosed aortic dissections should be treated conservatively. Here we reported 3 operations for acute thrombosed Stanford A type aortic dissections even under good B.P. control, suggesting the importance of careful and long term observation for acute thrombosed aortic dissections.

Renal aneurysm in solitary kidney. A successful case and surgical consideration / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

A 57-year old woman with a left renal aneurysm in a solitary kidney was successfully treated by <i>in situ</i> aneurysmectomy under careful renal preservation (intermittent perfusion combined with topical cooling). In our knowledge, 219 cases of renal aneurysms have been reported in the Japanese literatures by 1987. Among those cases, only 9 cases including our case were noted to have a solitary kidney. Surgical repair was recommended for renal aneurysm, especially, in a solitary kidney because of the high incidence of nephrectomy when ruptured.