[Devising a Technique for Distal Anastomosis During Total Arch Replacement Using the Frozen Elephant Trunk Technique:Delayed Deployment Technique].

Frozen elephant trunk( FET) technique is an effective procedure used to repair aortic arch aneurysm and aortic dissection. We modified FET technique in order to reduce bleeding, which we named "delayed deployment technique." This procedure is performed in the following manner: 1. A tube graft is anastomosed to the proximal descending aorta using open distal method. 2. A FET is deployed within the tube graft and the descending aorta. 3. Proximal end of the inner FET and the outer tube graft is trimmed at the same position. 4. A four-branched graft is anastomosed to doubly layered distal grafts. Since the FET is directly connected to the arch graft, anastomotic site in the proximal descending aorta can be free from direct blood flow. In addition, stent portion of the FET supports the aortic anastomosis from inside. We believe this method is useful for hemostasis.

[Treatment of Hemothorax with Bronchial Artery Embolization Combined with Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery Following Hemi-arch Replacement for Stanford Type A Acute Aortic Dissection].

A 51-year-old male arrived at our hospital by ambulance, presenting with a sudden onset of chest pain. Computed tomography (CT) revealed Stanford type A acute aortic dissection. Although emergency hemi-arch replacement was successfully performed, the blood pressure decreased and anemia acutely progressed. As chest X-ray revealed right lung opacity, a chest drain was inserted and 3,000 ml of bloody effusion was drawn over a period of 2 hours. Enhanced CT revealed hemothorax and extravasation of the right lung. Since the preoperative CT showed an abnormally dilated right bronchial artery, the branch vessels of the bronchial artery were considered to be the source of hemorrhage. Bronchial artery coil embolization was first performed, which decreased the bronchial artery flow, stabilizing the hemodynamics. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) was then performed, and the bleeding site at the surface of the lung was electrocauterized. Finally, the hemorrhage was controlled. This case suggests that the combination of coil embolization and VATS is an effective procedure.

[Redo Off-pump Coronary Artery Bypass for Postoperative Vein Graft Stenosis of Anomalous Origin of the Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery;Report of a Case].

Bland-White-Garland (BWG) syndrome (anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery) is a rare disease which may result in myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure or sometimes death during the early infantile period. We present a 57-year-old female with BWG syndrome. At the age of 20, she was diagnosed with BWG syndrome and underwent coronary artery bypass grafting of a saphenous vein to the proximal portion of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery and ligation of the anomalous artery. Thirty-seven years later, she presented with symptoms of angina pectoris and congestive heart failure. Coronary angiography (CAG) revealed stenosis of the saphenous vein graft. Bare metal stent implantation for the saphenous vein graft was performed, but at the 6 months' follow-up CAG revealed restenosis. Drug-eluting stent was then implanted, but in-stent restenosis recurred 4 months later. We performed off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting to the left anterior descending artery using the left internal thoracic artery. The postoperative course was uneventful.

Effects of surgical ventricular reconstruction and mitral complex reconstruction on cardiac oxidative metabolism and efficiency in nonischemic and ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of surgical ventricular reconstruction (SVR) on cardiac efficiency as a surrogate marker for cardiac function and oxidative metabolism in patients with severe heart failure. BACKGROUND: Our new integrated overlapping left ventriculoplasty, modified SVR, combined with mitral complex reconstruction, reduce left ventricular (LV) volume associated with improvement of symptoms of heart failure. METHODS: Twelve consecutive patients with end-stage heart failure due to nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) (n = 6) and ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (ICM) (n = 6) who underwent SVR were studied. Myocardial oxidative metabolism per gram of tissue was estimated by monoexponential clearance of (11)C-acetate positron emission tomography (K(mono)). Forward stroke volume at the LV outflow tract was measured by echocardiography. Cardiac efficiency was estimated by the ratio of external work (stroke volume at the LV outflow tract index × systolic blood pressure × heart rate) to K(mono) before and 1 month after SVR. RESULTS: After SVR, medians of New York Heart Association functional class significantly improved from 3 to 1.5 (p < 0.01) in both DCM and ICM patients. End-systolic and end-diastolic volume and LV mass significantly decreased in both groups. Stroke volume at the LV outflow tract increased from 43 ± 8 ml to 52 ± 11 ml (p = 0.028) in DCM patients, but not in ICM patients (49 ± 21 ml to 59 ± 26 ml, p = 0.12). K(mono) × LV mass, as an index of global LV oxidative metabolism, decreased in DCM patients (13.6 ± 1.9 g/min vs. 8.6 ± 1.5 g/min, p = 0.03) and ICM patients (12.0 ± 3.4 g/min vs. 9.2 ± 1.0 g/min, p = 0.06). As a result, cardiac efficiency increased in all patients with DCM (3.34 ± 0.46 × 10E6 vs. 4.74 ± 0.88 × 10E6 mm Hg·ml·min/m(2), p = 0.03) and in 5 of 6 patients with ICM (4.54 ± 1.66 × 10E6 vs. 5.99 ± 2.11 × 10E6 mm Hg·ml·min/m(2), p = 0.12). CONCLUSIONS: Combined surgery with SVR and mitral complex reconstruction reduced LV volume in association with improvement of cardiac efficiency in patients with severe heart failure.

A presumed mechanism of mitral regurgitation after left ventriculoplasty.

After isolated left ventriculoplasty, the mechanism of mitral regurgitation (MR) remains unclear. A 68-year-old male with ischemic cardiomyopathy presented with a new onset of severe MR after left ventriculoplasty without a mitral procedure. He needed a second operation for heart failure because of the MR. We speculate about its mechanism and express caution about the procedure.

New automated wavelet analytical system with a cellular phone for recording intercellular phone remote transmitted bileaflet valve sound.

The wavelet analytical system developed in our institute can detect a malfunctioning bileaflet valve by analyzing the split interval (SI) of bileaflet valve sound (BLVS) caused by asynchronous closure of both leaflets. However, this system is limited in its clinical application because of the complications of both valve sound recording and analytical protocols. This study established a new system that improved upon these limitations, and evaluated its clinical efficiency and the possibility of intercellular phone remote transmission of BLVS (ICTB). Fifty-one valves in 36 patients with St. Jude Medical bileaflet valve replacement were examined by fluoroscopy, 90 BLVS files (42 mitral and 48 aortic valve files) were recorded, and 1720 individual BLVS recordings in these files were analyzed with the new system. The new system consists of a cellular phone for BLVS recording and an automated algorithm for analysis with the Morlet continuous wavelet transform. ICTB was also investigated clinically. The new system showed great improvement over the original system by simplifying BLVS recording and reducing analysis time by approximately 65%. This system detected two malfunctioning valves with coefficients of variation (CV) for SI below 0.112, a previously proposed criterion for malfunction. ICTB also proved to be a useful BLVS recording method for determining SI. The new system described in this study could eliminate the factors limiting clinical application of the old system, and ICTB was found to be a clinically applicable BLVS recording method.

Anatomical pattern of feeding artery and mechanism of intraoperative spinal cord ischemia.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated correlation between anatomical pattern of the spinal cord feeding artery, detected by preoperative multidetector row computed tomography, and the mechanism of spinal cord ischemia during aortic surgery. METHODS: One hundred sixteen patients underwent multidetector row computed tomography before descending or thoracoabdominal replacement. Segmental arteries feeding the spinal cord were detected in 92 patients (79%), and were classified into "critical" (isolated hairpin shaped) or "supplemental" (confluence-shaped or multiple). Spinal cord ischemia was monitored together with distal aortic perfusion in 53 of them by motor-evoked potentials, evoked spinal cord potentials, or both. The relationship between monitoring results and operative management to the detected feeding arteries was analyzed. RESULTS: When no feeding segmental artery was involved in the extent of replacement (n = 18), spinal cord ischemia was detected in 1 (6%), which was due to cross-clamping the subclavian artery. When a supplemental feeding artery was involved (n = 15), ischemia was detected in 7 patients (47%), and was reversed by stopping back-bleeding. When a critical feeding artery was involved (n = 20), ischemia was detected in 6 (30%). In 3 of them, ischemia was reversed by stopping back-bleeding, whereas it was reversed only after reconstruction of the critical feeder in the remaining 3. Paraparesis occurred in 1 of the latter 3, and the incidence of spinal cord injury was 2% (1 of 53). CONCLUSIONS: When the involved feeding artery is a supplemental one, the steal phenomenon is the predominant mechanism of ischemia. Conversely, blood flow interruption to the critical feeding artery may cause spinal cord ischemia without steal phenomenon.

Microembolization from an abdominal aortic aneurysm after thoracic aortic replacement.

A 66-year-old man with thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm suffered from microembolism in the lower extremities after total arch replacement. He presented with livedo reticularis with palpable peripheral pulses, and the serum creatinine kinase level elevated up to 7,695. The abdominal aortic aneurysm, but not the thoracic aorta, was the origin of this complication. The morphological change of thrombus in the abdominal aorta detected by ultrasonography was the key to the diagnosis. Graft replacement of the abdominal aorta finally resolved his problem.

Spontaneous perigraft hematoma suggesting transgraft hemorrhage seven years after thoracic aortic replacement with a Dacron graft.

As a previously unrecognized late graft-related complication, we report a case of spontaneous perigraft hemorrhage, which was evidenced by contrast extravasation on computed tomographic scan seven years after thoracic aortic replacement with a knitted Dacron graft. There was no anastomotic problem or graft tear, and the hematoma seemed to result from transgraft hemorrhage. Inadequate graft healing and use of a knitted graft in the thoracic aorta seem underlying. Surgeons should be aware of this complication and we advocate careful long-term follow-up.

Emergency surgical treatment for acute occlusion of the left main coronary artery-report of a case-.

We report a case of acute occlusion of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) successfully treated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) under the use of percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass support (PCPS) and subsequent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). CABG was started only two hours after admission, and subsequent reperfusion of left anterior descending artery (LAD) after completing distal and proximal anastomosis was achieved 60 minutes later. Although postoperative CK levels were elevated to 10,900 IU/l, akinesis of the left ventricular (LV) wall was limited to segment #1 and #2, and hypokinesis in segment #3 and #6 documented by postoperative left ventriculogram (LVG). The patient was discharged from the hospital on foot without neurologic sequelae and is doing well and in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class I in 20 months of follow-up. Simultaneous efforts to maintain systemic circulation and to achieve reperfusion of the occluded LMCA as soon as possible are essential for survival. Prompt introduction of mechanical circulatory support and early revascularization to minimize the infarct area are both necessary.