Ventricular aneurysmectomy. A 25-year experience.

OBJECTIVE: This study determined predictors of operative survival and improved long-term outcomes in patients undergoing ventricular aneurysmectomy. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Since the first successful repair of ventricular aneurysm in 1958, refined technique and improvement in perioperative care have been introduced to lower morbidity and mortality. METHODS: The authors reviewed their institutional experience from 1968 through 1993 in treating 523 patients who underwent ventricular aneurysmectomy. RESULTS: Overall operative mortality was 8% and overall median survival was 128 months. Contractility grade, age, and year of operation were predictors of operative mortality and of improved long-term survival. Type of aneurysm repair was not a strong predictor of operative mortality or improved long-term survival. CONCLUSIONS: Ventricular aneurysmectomy can be performed safely using one of a number of established techniques, although operative mortality and long-term survival may not depend on the techniques used.

Dysphagia lusoria: aberrant right subclavian artery with a Kommerell's diverticulum.

A retroesophageal right subclavian artery, the most common congenital aortic arch abnormality, is an unusual cause of dysphagia in adults. The embryologic abnormality of the aortic arch is involution of the fourth vascular arch, along with the right dorsal aorta, leaving the seventh intersegmental artery attached to the descending aorta. This persistent intersegmental artery assumes a retroesophageal position as it proceeds out of the thorax into the arm. Since compression of the esophagus by this right subclavian artery may produce dysphagia, the term "dysphagia lusoria" ("dysphagia by freak of nature"), has been used to describe the symptom complex. The presence of an aneurysm of the artery or Kommerell's diverticulum at its aortic origin is more likely to produce symptoms from esophageal compression. This case presents a middle aged adult with an associated Kommerell's diverticulum and dysphagia. Surgical correction was used to relieve his symptoms and to correct the diverticulum of the proximal right subclavian artery. The embryologic changes that occur are discussed in detail.

Videothoracoscopy: improved technique and expanded indications.

Current videoendoscopic technology and percutaneous techniques of exposure and dissection have been successfully applied to abdominal surgery with favorable results. Application of this technology to our practice of thoracoscopy is the basis of this report. Videothoracoscopy has been performed in 39 patients for the following indications: chronic pleural effusion, interstitial lung disease, mediastinal lymphadenopathy in lung cancer, persistent air leak after decortication, mediastinal mass, recurrent spontaneous pneumothorax, hydropneumothorax with persistent air leak, and pleural-based mass. The technique we employ includes lateral decubitus positioning and double-lumen endotracheal intubation with ipsilateral lung collapse. The videoscope, retractors, and instruments are introduced through separate 10-mm incisions. Percutaneous manipulation of instruments and the videoscope is guided by images produced on television screens without dissection, and if resection is performed, the incision is enlarged to allow specimen retrieval. Procedures performed using this technique include pleural biopsy, partial pleurectomy, lysis of adhesions, lung biopsies, staging lymph node biopsy, lung nodule biopsy, pleural-based mass resection, and mediastinal mass biopsy and resection. This videoendoscopic technique greatly improves visualization of thoracic anatomy, facilitating thoracoscopy and enhancing exploration of the chest. It is preferred over conventional thoracoscopy and, in some patients, reduces the magnitude of operation by avoiding thoracotomy.

Internal mammary artery graft at reoperation: risks, benefits, and methods of preservation.

To determine the effect of a prior internal mammary artery (IMA) graft on coronary artery bypass reoperation (CABR), we reviewed our experience with 410 consecutive patients: 313 received only saphenous vein grafts at initial coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and 97 received at least one IMA graft at CABG. Cardiac catheterization data before CABG were available in 110 patients (56 received only saphenous vein grafts, 54 received at least one IMA graft), allowing comparison of left ventricular function at CABG and CABR. Injury of the IMA graft occurred in 5 patients (1 death), but presence of an IMA graft was not an independent predictor of morbidity or mortality. Overall, the incidences of complications and deaths were higher in patients with saphenous vein grafts than in patients with IMA grafts, though not significantly so. Internal mammary artery grafts better preserved cardiac function: patients with IMA grafts had worse left ventricular function before CABG but better left ventricular function before CABR than patients with saphenous vein grafts. Left ventricular function deterioration from before CABG to before CABR was significantly less in patients with IMA grafts. We conclude that the risk of CABR is not increased by a previously constructed IMA graft and that left ventricular function is better preserved at CABR when an IMA graft was constructed at the initial operation.

Nephrotic syndrome complicating adenocarcinoma of the lung with resolution after resection.

Nephrotic syndrome is an uncommon complication of lung cancer. We present a case in which adenocarcinoma was complicated by the nephrotic syndrome, which resolved after resection of the cancer.

Experimental aortic replacement with a vascularized tissue graft.

Prosthetic graft infection in the aortic position remains a catastrophic complication of aortic replacement. In an effort to incorporate the advantages of vascularized tissue into aortic replacement, the practionally of infrarenal aortic replacement was investigated in dogs by a vascularized, musculofascial, pedicle graft. Eight dogs underwent laparotomy, and the left rectus abdominus muscle, its posterior rectus sheath, and underlying peritoneum were used to construct a tube graft based on the inferior epigastric vascular pedicle. A 2- to 4-cm section of the infrarenal aorta was resected, and the tube graft was interposed. Aortography documented graft patency immediately and at 1,6, and 10 months. Gross and histologic examination of the grafts at one month revealed viable skeletal muscle in the pedicle graft, with a thin layer of fibrin deposition on the luminal surface. Ten months after insertion, the microscopic examination against revealed patent vessels in the graft and a neoendothelial layer that lined the luminal surface of the graft. Successful replacement of the dog infrarenal aorta can be performed using a tube graft as part of a vascularized, musculofascial, pedicle flap. The potential for its use in the infected field is intriguing and deserves further study.

Successful single lung transplantation.

We have presented a successful case of lung transplantation in a man with pulmonary fibrosis. We believe it is the first successful attempt in the United States, following demonstration of its feasibility in Toronto, Canada. Twenty years after the first lung transplantation, several factors have evolved that help to secure a successful outcome, including a strong, dynamic organ procurement system; static, hypothermic lung preservation; omental wrapping of the bronchial anastomosis; improved immunosuppressive agents; and improved postoperative care.

Quadricuspid aortic valve with centrally fenestrated leaflets causing aortic insufficiency.

The occurrence of a quadricuspid aortic valve with single, central leaflet fenestrations causing aortic insufficiency has not previously been reported. We recently encountered these features during aortic valve replacement for severe aortic regurgitation in a 20-year-old man who had had a history of aortic insufficiency since age 2 years. The patient's late increase in symptoms was probably due to the fact that 1 of the 4 leaflets was somewhat flail, allowing incomplete coaptation and producing regurgitation over and above that caused by the central fenestrations.

Simultaneous resection of synchronous bilateral bronchogenic carcinoma using median sternotomy.

Despite the increasing use of median sternotomy for pulmonary resection, only two successful cases of simultaneous resection of bilateral primary bronchogenic carcinoma by this approach have been reported. We report the third case of successful resection of synchronous primary bronchogenic carcinoma by median sternotomy, and the fourth successful case of simultaneous resection, as the first reported case of simultaneous resection was accomplished via bilateral anterolateral thoracotomy incisions. We believe at present that the ideal surgical approach for patients with bilateral primary bronchogenic carcinoma is simultaneous resection by median sternotomy.