Valve-Sparing Root Replacement: Aortic Root Remodeling with External Subvalvular Ring Annuloplasty.

The original valve-sparing procedures for aortic root aneurysms were remodeling and reimplantation of the aortic root. The remodeling technique provides more physiologic movement of the cusps within 3 reconstructed neo-sinuses, thus preserving root expansibility through the interleaflet triangles. However, the durability of remodeling has been a matter of concern due to the high rate of aortic insufficiency when annular dilation is not addressed. Therefore, a modified approach was developed, combining a physiologic remodeling of the root with a subvalvular annuloplasty. This case report highlights the first case of successful aortic root remodeling with external subvalvular ring annuloplasty in Korea.

Normothermic cardiac surgery with warm blood cardioplegia in patient with cold agglutinins.

Cold agglutinins are predominately immunoglobulin M autoantibodies that react at cold temperatures with surface antigens on the red blood cell. This can lead to hemagglutination at low temperatures, followed by complement fixation and subsequent hemolysis on rewarming. Development of hemagglutination or hemolysis in patients with cold agglutinins is a risk of cardiac surgery under hypothermia. In addition, there is the potential for intracoronary hemagglutination with inadequate distribution of cardioplegic solutions, thrombosis, embolism, ischemia, or infarction. We report a patient with incidentally detected cold agglutinin who underwent normothermic cardiac surgery with warm blood cardioplegia.

Cerebral air embolism as a result of inducing pneumoperitoneum after bilobectomy.

A 62-year-old man with lung cancer underwent a right lower bilobectomy of the lung. After resection, we insufflated air through the diaphragm into the peritoneal cavity, and sudden cardiac arrest developed in the patient. A large number of air bubbles were aspirated from the heart and great vessels, and the patient recovered after resuscitation. However, he remained with a left sensory deficit, a left homonymous hemianopia, and left hemiparesis. A brain computed tomographic scan revealed an acute ischemic lesion in the right parieto-occipital area. Our case shows that an air embolism is a possible complication of artificial intraoperative pneumoperitoneum after pulmonary resection.

The immunohistochemical overexpression of ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M1 (RRM1) protein is a predictor of shorter survival to gemcitabine-based chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

We evaluated whether ribonucleotide reductase regulatory subunit M1 (RRM1) protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a predictor of survival and response in gemcitabine-treated, advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We retrospectively collected 40 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded NSCLC tissues to investigate the protein expression of RRM1 by IHC with a purified rabbit anti-human RRM1 polyclonal antibody (ProteinTech Group, Chicago, IL, USA). RRM1 expression was positive in 14 (35%) and negative in 26 (65%) cases. Ten (25%) patients were treated as first-line and 30 (75%) patients as second-line. The median age was 61 years and M/F was 31/9. Stage IIIB/IV was 7/33 and adenocarcinoma/squamous cell carcinoma/other cell type was 20/16/4. Other characteristics, including age, gender, stage, cell type and first/second-line were not statistically different in the RRM-positive and RRM-negative groups. The overall survival of RRM1-positive groups was significantly shorter than RRM-negative groups (5.1 months vs. 12.9 months, p = 0.022). The response rates of 38 out of 40 patients were assessable. Disease control rate (PR+SD) of the RRM1-positive groups was significantly lower than that of RRM1-negative groups (23% vs. 56%, p = 0.053). In patients with gemcitabine-treated advanced NSCLC, patients with RRM1-positive tumors had worse overall survival and disease control than patients with RRM1-negative tumors.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for recurrent ovarian cancer with a metastatic mediastinal mass.

BACKGROUND: Although primary cytoreductive surgery is well accepted as a cornerstone of the management for epithelial ovarian cancer, the benefits of secondary cytoreduction in recurrent ovarian cancer remain unclear. Furthermore, no consensus has been reached regarding treatment strategies for extraperitoneal metastasis. CASE REPORT: A 29-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital due to suspected recurrent ovarian cancer. Four years previously, she had undergone primary debulking surgery which was followed by adjuvant chemotherapy consisting of paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2)) and carboplatin (area under the curve = 5) for 6 cycles due to an ovarian papillary serous adenocarcinoma stage IIIc. Preoperative evaluation revealed a palpable inguinal mass and multiple enlarged pelvic lymph nodes with a well-defined mediastinal mass on abdomino-pelvic and chest computed tomography. Secondary debulking combined with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) was performed. The patient had no discernable evidence of disease at her 18-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: VATS may be a reasonable option for secondary debulking in selected patients with isolated mediastinal metastasis.

Pheochromocytoma-induced cardiogenic shock rescued by percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass system.

Pheochromocytoma is a rare cause of cardiogenic shock. Clinical management is directed at reducing the heart rate while maintaining blood pressure. However, medical treatment is often unsuccessful because of the high endogenous catecholamine level and low cardiac output. Percutaneous cardiopulmonary bypass system is a circulatory device that allows for safer use of heart-rate-reducing agents, which is advantageous when used early in the course of the cardiogenic shock induced by pheochromocytoma.

Triple aortic root injury.

Nonpenetrating aortic root injuries, including aortic transection, coronary artery dissection, and aortic valve disruption, are very rarely seen and difficult to diagnose. This case was determined to be a combination of all three of these injuries. The management of this patient's injuries was also a challenge because of a history from previous drug-eluting stent implantation.

Femoral artery occlusion after using a suture-mediated arterial puncture closure device.

A femoral artery occlusion is a very rare complication after using a suture-mediated arterial puncture closing device (APCD). The mechanism of the femoral artery occlusion is unclear and its standard management has not been established. This case describes a mechanism of femoral artery occlusion by a suture-mediated APCD and suggests a method of prevention and treatment.

A case of concentric left ventricular hypertrophy with falsely normal blood pressure in patient with Takayasu's arteritis.

This is a case of full-blown Takayasu's arteritis in a young woman complicated with recurrent strokes, which was diagnosed late, after echocardiographic examination identifying concentric left ventricular hypertrophy of unknown cause and falsely normal blood pressure due to arterial stenoses in all four limbs. Herein we describe this interesting and instructive case with a short review of literature.

Successful mechanical circulatory support as a bridge to transplantation.

With the progression of congestive heart failure, therapeutic options become fewer, and cardiac transplantation is the final option. The use of a left ventricular assist device improves the survival rate and quality of life in patients on the waiting list for transplantation. A 64-year-old man was successfully maintained on mechanical circulatory support with a left ventricular assist device for 502 days, as a bridge to transplantation.

In vitro evaluation of the performance of Korean pulsatile ECLS (T-PLS) using precise quantification of pressure-flow waveforms.

The Twin-Pulse Life Support System (T-PLS) is a novel pulsatile extracorporeal life support system developed in Korea. It has been reported that the T-PLS achieves higher levels of tissue perfusion of the kidney during short-term extracorporeal circulation and provides more blood flow to coronary artery than nonpulsatile blood pumps. However, these results lack pulsatility quantifications and thus make it hard to analyze the effects of pulsatility upon hemodynamic performance. We have adopted the concepts of hemodynamic energy, energy equivalent pressure (EEP), and surplus hemodynamic energy (SHE) to evaluate pulsatility performance in the different circuit configurations of the T-PLS and a membrane oxygenator (MO) in vitro. In a mock system, three different circuits were constructed depending on the location of an MO: pump-MO-pump (serial), MO-pumps (parallel A), and pumps-MO (parallel B). In parallel A, a low-resistance MO was used to preserve the pulsatility from the pump. All circuits showed good pulsatility in terms of EEP (serial: 13.2% +/- 3.2%, parallel A: 10.0% +/- 1.6%, parallel B: 7.00% +/- 1.1%; change from aortic pressure to EEP; p < 0.003). The SHE levels were 17,404 +/- 3750 ergs/cm3, 13,170 +/- 1486 ergs/cm3, and 9192 +/- 1122 ergs/cm3 in each circuit setup (p < 0.001). Although EEP levels were somewhat lower, both parallel types provided higher pump output compared with the serial type (serial: 1.87 +/- 0.29 l/min, parallel A: 3.09 +/- 0.74 l/min, parallel B: 3.06 +/- 0.56 l/min; p < 0.003 except parallel A vs. parallel B, p = 0.90). Conclusively, the precise quantifications of pressure flow waveforms, EEP, and SHE are valuable tools for evaluating pulsatility of the mechanical circulatory devices, and are expected to be used as additional performance indexes of a blood pump. The pulsatility performances are different according to circuit setups. However, the parallel A circuit could achieve higher pump output and generate adequate pulsatility level. Thus, the parallel A circuit is suggested as the optimal configuration in T-PLS applications.