ABSTRACT
We report two cases of patch reconstruction for distal arch aneurysms. Supportive measures during operation included selective cerebral perfusion for brain protection and cardioplegic arrest for heart protection. During operation the whole body except for the heart was cooled down to 25°C, and only the heart was perfused at 36°C and kept beating. Both aneurysms were saccular, and after the resection of the aneurysm the defect of the aortic wall was reconstructed with woven double velour patches. The relationship between the pressure and the flow during coronary perfusion is not clear, but we thought the above measures should be taken when operating on distal arch aneurysm.
ABSTRACT
Cor triatriatum is an uncommon congenital malformation in which the fibromuscular abnormal septum divides the atrium into two compartments. Generally it is used to mean cor triatriatum sinister in which the left atrium is divided into two lumens. In typical cor triatriatum, an abnormal fibromuscular septum divides a proximal chamber that receives the pulmonary vein from a distal chamber that communicates with the left atrial appendage and the mitral valve. Several hypothesis were proposed concerning the mechanism of the abnormal septation of the atrium, but no single hypothesis could explain all the cases convincingly. We report the successful surgical treatment of a 6-month-old male patient with the rare variant of the cor triatriatum with pulmonary hypertension. The left pulmonary vein and superior right pulmonary vein drained into an accessory chamber which opened to the right atrium through a sinus venousus type atrial septum defect. The left inferior pulmonary vein drained into the true lumen which opened to right atrium through the patent foramen ovale.