[Early Clinical Outcomes of Robotic Mitral Valve Repair;Initial Twenty Cases].

We report the early results of our initial 20 consecutive robotic-assisted mitral valve repairs at our institution. A total of 20 patients (aged 55±10 years, 15 males) underwent robotic assisted mitral repairs by using da Vinci system. Successful mitral valve repairs were done in all cases. All patients received an annuloplasty band. Triangular resection were done in 2 cases and artificial chordae were used in 18 cases. There was no conversion to sternotomy intraoperatively. Three cases needed recross-clamping because of mitral regurgitation, mitral stenosis and the problem of venous canula. Cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross-clamp time were 272±56 minutes, 153±41 minutes. There were no hospital mortality and major complications. Post-pump echocardiograms showed no/trivial mitral regurgitation in all cases. Robotic-assisted mitral valve repairs were done safely and the early results were acceptable in our series.

[Surgical Treatment of Acute Infective Endocarditis after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement].

Infective endocarditis (IE) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a rare complication, but has a high mortality. An 86-year-old female with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis underwent TAVR at our hospital and she was discharged without complication after 10 days. She was readmitted with high fever and acute heart failure 1 month later. Blood culture revealed Staphylococcus, and echocardiography showed vegetation on the septal cusp of the tricuspid valve and perforation at the membranous ventricular septum. We decided to perform emergency operation due to active infection and intracardiac complication despite appropriate antibiotic treatment. The infected valve was replaced with a bioprosthetic valve and the right ventricular (RV)-left ventricular (LV) communication was closed with a bovine pericardial patch. The patient received the antibiotics for 6 week and was transferred to the previous facility.

Risk factors affecting survival after surgical repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify the risk factors affecting the high mortality rates associated with the treatment of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). METHODS: In this retrospective study, the subjects consisted of 105 patients who underwent repair of ruptured AAA at our institution from December 1984 to March 2012. We compared the patients of ruptured AAA in survival group with those in death group to evaluate the clinical factors in ruptured AAA mortality. RESULTS: The operative and in-hospital mortality of ruptured AAA patients was 22.9% compared with 1.9% for that of non-ruptured AAA patients. The mean hemoglobin level was significantly lower in death group than in survival group. Intraoperative bleeding volume was significantly higher in death group than in survival group. Cox proportional hazard analysis showed that level 3 or 4 according to the Rutherford classification, preoperative hemoglobin level of less than 9.0 g/dl, intraoperative blood loss volume of more than 3000 ml, postoperative bowel ischemia and class 3 or 4 according to the Fitzgerald classification were significantly associated with high mortality. CONCLUSION: These findings showed that every effort to maintain preoperative hemodynamic stability reduce volumes of blood loss in operation, and to minimize postoperative deterioration of organ functions would be essential to improve patient survival.

Surgical treatment for acute type A aortic dissection during pregnancy (16 weeks) with Loeys-Dietz syndrome.

A 32-year-old woman at 16 weeks of pregnancy was diagnosed with acute type A aortic dissection and severe aortic regurgitation. Aortic valve and aortic arch replacement was successfully performed under circulatory arrest with deep hypothermia. After the operation, she was diagnosed with Loeys-Dietz syndrome. At 36 weeks of gestation, the patient underwent a cesarean section and delivered a healthy baby.