Surgical repair of an acute Stanford type A aortic dissection in a patient with a retrosternal gastric tube.

Cardiovascular surgery in patients with a retrosternal gastric tube (RGT) remains rare despite improvements in the prognosis of oesophageal cancer. A 75-year old woman with a history of total thoracic oesophagectomy with RGT reconstruction required emergency aortic arch replacement for an acute Stanford type A aortic dissection. We opted for a median sternotomy approach involving complete dissection of the RGT from surrounding tissues and retraction for surgical access to the dissection. Enhanced computed tomography was useful for the diagnosis and planning of the emergency surgery.

Minimally invasive vascular surgery for repair of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm with iliac involvement.

PURPOSE: A minimally invasive vascular surgery (MIVS) technique for repair of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with iliac involvement was evaluated, and its outcome was compared with conventional open repair. METHODS: Twenty patients with AAA with iliac involvement underwent treatment with bifurcated graft replacement with the MIVS technique. The procedure was performed via minilaparotomy, with the incision length determined according to the extent of the AAA obtained with ultrasound scanning and with the small intestine confined completely within the abdominal cavity. The proximal and distal operating fields were obtained with changing the patient position and arranging for the abdominal incision to be retracted cephalad and caudad. Perioperative courses in these 20 patients (the MIVS group) were analyzed in comparison with 14 patients who underwent conventional open repair, which was performed through the full midline laparotomy with the intestine simply covered with moistened towels (the conventional group). RESULTS: The MIVS technique for AAA repair was performed with a mean abdominal incision length of 8.4 cm and a range from 6.5 to 11.2 cm. The patients in the MIVS group showed earlier resumption of oral intake and ambulation in comparison with those patients in the conventional group (liquid diet: 1.1 +/- 0.3 days versus 2.9 +/- 1.4 days; P <.01; solid diet: 2.0 +/- 0.2 days versus 3.9 +/- 1.4 days; P <.01; ambulation: 2.1 +/- 0.8 days versus 4.3 +/- 2.3 days; P <.01), with comparable mortality and morbidity rates. Accordingly, the patients in the MIVS group were discharged earlier (20.7 +/- 6.3 days versus 33.9 +/- 12.6 days; P <.01), and total hospitalization charges were significantly decreased (2,232,791 +/- 200,747 Japanese yen versus 2,640,441 +/- 243,889 Japanese yen; P <.01). CONCLUSION: The MIVS technique allowed earlier postoperative recovery with comparable morbidity and mortality rates with the conventional technique and, therefore, saved hospital stay length and total hospitalization charges. Thus, the MIVS technique is considered as a new and effective minimally invasive technique for open AAA repair.