Right Aortic Arch with a Retroesophageal Left Subclavian Artery and an Anomalous Origin of the Pulmonary Artery from the Aorta

We report the case of a newborn with a rare anatomic variation: a right aortic arch with a retroesophageal left subclavian artery and an anomalous origin of the pulmonary artery from the aorta. This variation was diagnosed using echocardiography and computed tomography, and we treated the condition surgically.

The Absence of Atrial Contraction as a Predictor of Permanent Pacemaker Implantation after Maze Procedure with Cryoablation

BACKGROUND: The absence of atrial contraction (AC) after the maze procedure has been reported to cause subsequent annular dilatation and to increase the risk of embolic stroke. We hypothesized that the lack of AC could increase the risk of permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation in patients undergoing the maze procedure. METHODS: In 376 consecutive patients who had undergone a cryo-maze procedure and combined valve operation, recovery of AC was assessed at baseline and at immediate (≤2 weeks), early (≤1 year, 4.6±3.8 months), and late (>1 year, 3.5±1.1 years) postoperative stages. RESULTS: With a median follow-up of 53 months, 10 patients underwent PPM implantation. Seven PPM implants were for sinus node dysfunction (pauses of 9.6±2.4 seconds), one was for marked sinus bradycardia, and two were for advanced/complete atrioventricular block. The median (interquartile range) time to PPM implantation was 13.8 (0.5–68.2) months. Our time-varying covariate Cox models showed that the absence of AC was a risk factor for PPM implantation (hazard ratio, 11.92; 95% confidence interval, 2.52 to 56.45; p=0.002). CONCLUSION: The absence of AC may be associated with a subsequent risk of PPM implantation.

Clinical Outcomes after Anatomic Repair Including Hemi-Mustard Operation in Patients with Congenitally Corrected Transposition of the Great Arteries

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to determine the early and late outcomes of anatomic repair of congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (ccTGA) and to evaluate effectiveness of the hemi-Mustard procedure. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, single-center study of patients who underwent anatomic repair for ccTGA between July 1996 and December 2013. Sixteen patients were included in the study. The median age at the time of the operation was 3.5 years (range: 0.5-29.7), and the median body weight was 13.3 kg (range: 5.8-54). The median follow-up duration was 7.7 years (range: 0.2-17.4). RESULTS: Atrial switch was achieved using the Mustard procedure in 12 patients (hemi-Mustard procedure in 11) or the Senning procedure in four patients. The ventriculoarterial procedure was performed using the Rastelli procedure in 11 patients and arterial switch in five patients. Six patients underwent tricuspid valvuloplasty. The survival rate was 93.8±6.1%. The rate of freedom from reoperation at 5 years was 92.3±7.4% in the Rastelli group. All patients except one were New York Heart Association class I. All patients except one had mild tricuspid regurgitation. CONCLUSION: Anatomic repair can be performed with a low risk of in-hospital mortality. The hemi-Mustard strategy for selected patients is one solution for reducing early mortality and morbidity, and long-term complications such as venous pathway stenosis or sinus node dysfunction.

The Right Ventricular Myxoma Which Attached to the Tricuspid Valve: Sliding Tricuspid Valvuloplasty

We report a rare case of an extremely large right ventricular myxoma involving the ventricular side of the tricuspid valve. The tumor was excised along with the entire posterior leaflet and part of the anterior leaflet. The tricuspid valve was repaired by sliding valvuloplasty combined with ring annuloplasty.

Pulmonary Root Translocation with the Lecompte Maneuver: For Transposition of the Great Arteries with Ventricular Septal Defect and Pulmonary Stenosis

A five-month-old boy who had undergone previously transcatheter balloon atrioseptostomy at 3 days of age for complete transposition of the great arteries with ventricular septal defect and pulmonary stenosis underwent pulmonary root translocation with the Lecompte maneuver. This operation has the advantages of maintaining pulmonary valve function, preserving the capacity for growth, and avoiding problems inherent to the right ventricular to pulmonary artery conduit. This patient progressed well for 9 months postoperatively and we report this case of pulmonary root translocation with the Lecompte maneuver.

Outcomes of the Initial Surgical Treatment without Neoadjuvant Therapy in Patients with Unexpected N2 Non-small Cell Lung Cancer / 대한흉부외과학회지

BACKGROUND: Preoperative chemotherapy has been adopted in our hospital as a standard treatment for non-small cell lung cancer patients with N2 disease. However, there have been cases of pathologic N2 disease that have been detected after curative-intent surgical resection. We retrospectively studied the outcomes of initial surgical treatment without neoadjuvant therapy in patients with unexpected N2 non-small cell lung cancer. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between January 1995 and June 2007, 225 patients were diagnosed with pathologic N2 disease after they underwent initial pulmonary resection without neoadjuvant therapy. Among them, 170 patients were preoperatively diagnosed with lymph node stage N0 or N1. We retrospectively reviewed their medical record and analyzed the outcomes. RESULT: The overall 5-year survival rate was 35.4%. The prognostic factors that were significantly associated with survival were no adjuvant therapy, histologic cell types other than adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, a pathologic T stage more than T1, old age (> or =70 years) and no mediastinoscopic biopsy. During the follow-up, 79 patients (46.5%) experienced tumor recurrence, including loco-regional recurrence in 20 patients (25.3%) and distant metastasis in 56 (70.9%). The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate was 33.7%. CONCLUSION: Based on our findings, the survival was good for patients with unexpected N2 non-small cell lung cancer and who underwent initial pulmonary resection without neoadjuvant therapy. A prospective comparative analysis is needed to obtain more conclusive and persuasive results.

Heart Retransplantation in a Patient with Cardiac Allograft Vasculopathy after Primary Heart Transplantation?: A case report / 대한흉부외과학회지

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is a major factor that limits the long-term survival after cardiac transplantation. Because the main feature of CAV is a diffuse stenosis that predominantly develops in the distal arteries, reperfusion therapy has shown poor outcomes. The results of cardiac retransplantation for CAV are better than that for acute resection and the survival is identical to that of patients who undergo primary transplantation. We describe a case of performing cardiac retransplantation in a 28 year-old male patient with refractory CAV and who underwent primary transplantation due to dilated cardiomyopathy 8 years previously.

Intracardiac Metastasis of Testicular Embryonal CarcinomaThat Presented with a Right Ventricular Mass / 대한흉부외과학회지

Metastases to the heart are rarely diagnosed before the patient dies. A 26-year-old man was admitted with multiple metastasis of a testicular embryonal carcinoma and he was found to have intracardiac metastasis. Echocardiography showed that he had a mass rising from the interventricular septum and it was floating through the right ventricular outflow tract. The histology of the mass we removed from the right ventricle was consistent with testicular embryonal carcinoma. The patient made a smooth recovery after surgical intervention and chemotherapy. We believe this is the first reported case of testicular embryonal carcinoma that metastasized to the heart and that was successfully removed via surgery in Korea.