Giant Aneurysm of Ascending Aorta and Aortic Arch: A Report of a Rare Case.

A thoracic aortic aneurysm is considered giant when its diameter exceeds 10 cm. We report a rare case of a giant aneurysm involving the ascending aorta and aortic arch in a 40-year-old man, initially diagnosed as an acute aortic dissection. The patient underwent emergency surgery, during which the ascending aorta and aortic arch were replaced under deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest with selective antegrade cerebral perfusion. Strong teamwork resulted in a favorable postoperative course for the patient.

A Surgical Technique to Preserve the Subvalvular Apparatus in Patients Undergoing Mitral Valve Replacement for Severe Ischemic Regurgitation

ABSTRACT Severe functional mitral valve regurgitation should be treated in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization. When replacement is considered the best therapeutic option, preservation of the mitral subvalvular apparatus is crucial, especially in the emergency setting, because of its primary role in preserving geometry and function of left and right ventricles. Here we present a simple and quick technique, where subvalvular apparatus is preserved in toto in patients undergoing mitral valve replacement with a bioprosthesis.

A Surgical Technique to Preserve the Subvalvular Apparatus in Patients Undergoing Mitral Valve Replacement for Severe Ischemic Regurgitation.

Severe functional mitral valve regurgitation should be treated in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization. When replacement is considered the best therapeutic option, preservation of the mitral subvalvular apparatus is crucial, especially in the emergency setting, because of its primary role in preserving geometry and function of left and right ventricles. Here we present a simple and quick technique, where subvalvular apparatus is preserved in toto in patients undergoing mitral valve replacement with a bioprosthesis.

Surgery Resection of a Massive Thymic Carcinoma during Urgent Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

BACKGROUND: Thymic carcinoma is a very rare tumour. It is classified as thymoma type C according to World Health Organization classification. There are not many publications of simultaneous surgical treatment of thymoma during cardiac surgery interventions. CASE REPORT: We present a case of simultaneous surgical treatment of incidentally discovered thymic carcinoma during an urgent coronary artery by-pass operation. A 55-year-old man with diagnosis three coronary vessel diseases indicated urgent by-pass surgery. The patient underwent triple coronary bypass surgery. During the intervention, it was discovered incidentally a strong mass 15 x 12 cm located in the right pleural space. A tumour was excised totally, and biopsy referred thymoma type C or thymic carcinoma. The patient did very well early postoperatively. He was referred to oncologist clinicians for further treatment. The patient was clinically very good for at least 1.5 years after surgery. CONCLUSION: We think that simultaneous surgical treatment of thymoma, whenever it is encountered during cardiac surgery procedures, is the recommended solution.

A Very Rare Case of Cor Triatriatum with Severe Mitral Regurgitation.

BACKGROUND: Cor triatriatum sinister is rare congenital heart disease. It is mainly presented in childhood and often accompanied with other congenital anomalies. The cases with cor triatriatum treated surgically in adults and accompanied with severe mitral regurgitation are very rare. CASE REPORT: We present a case with diagnosed cor triatriatum and severe mitral regurgitation. The diagnose was made by echocardiography. She was a female 25 years that was hospitalised with signs of heart failure NYHA II-III. CONCLUSION: We performed the resection of the membrane in the left atrium and repair of a mitral valve according to Alfieri. The patient did very well after the surgery.

Aortic Annulus Enlargement: Early and Long-Terms Results.

AIM: Patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM) is a common occurrence in aortic valve surgery. Even the discussions about the impact of this phenomenon on the results of aortic valve surgery, the management of this problem remain one of the main topics in this kind of surgery. One of the ways of a solution is aortic annulus enlargement. The main topic of this study is to evaluate the early and longterm results of this technique in our country. METHODS: During the period January 2010 -January 2015, 641 patients performed aortic valve surgery. In ten patients we performed aortic annulus enlargement according to Manouguian technique to avoid severe patient-prothesis mismatch. Operative mortality and perioperative complications (low cardiac output, pulmonary complications, etc..) were considered the indicators of the early results. Survival, clinical presentation according to NYHA, quality of life were the indicators to evaluate long-term results. Preoperative and postoperative echocardiographic data were also used to evaluate our results. We collected the data from hospital registrations and periodical clinical visit and echographic examination after hospital discharge. RESULTS: In our group, 6 of 10 patients were diagnosed with stenotic aortic valve, two patients had aortic valve regurgitation and two mixed valve pathology. Four patients had concomitant cardiac surgery procedure, mitral or CABG. In all cases, aortic valve pathology was the primary diagnose. In the preoperative echocardiographic examination mean transvalvular gradient was 54.3 ± 6.42. We had no death during early or late postoperative period. Only one patient had pulmonary complications and long time of respiratory assistance because of his pulmonary pathology. The same patient had low cardiac output and wound infection. Early after surgery mean transprostethic gradient was 16.2 ± 3.44 and late postoperative was 15.9 ± 4.3. No patient had the severe patient-prothesis mismatch. Mean follow-up was 49 ± 20.26 months. During follow-up, we had no death, and all patients had very good quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Aortic valve annulus enlargement can be used with very good early and late results with the final goal to increase the potential benefit of the patient from surgery of aortic valve.

Aortic Annular Enlargement during Aortic Valve Replacement.

In the surgery of aortic valve replacement is always attempted, as much as possible, to implant the larger prosthesis with the mains goals to enhance the potential benefits, to minimise transvalvular gradient, decrease left ventricular size and avoid the phenomenon of patient-prosthesis mismatch. Implantation of an ideal prosthesis often it is not possible, due to a small aortic annulus. A variety of aortic annulus enlargement techniques is reported to avoid patient-prosthesis mismatch. We present the case that has submitted four three times open heart surgery. We used Manouguian technique to enlarge aortic anulus with excellent results during the fourth time of surgery.

Prosthetic Subclavian-Aortic Bypass as a Safe Surgical Technique for the Coarctation of the Aorta in Adults.

BACKGROUND: Coarctation represents 5-8% of congenital heart disease. Residual hypertension remains the main problem after late correction. Surgical treatment in the adult remains a challenge for the surgeon. Our prefered method used in this category is the Subclavian-aortic bypass. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We have reviewed our registry for the period of 12 years (1998- 2010) and we found a group of 18 adult patients being operated for coarctation of the aorta. The mean age of this group of patients was 24.7 ± 8.43 years (range 16-42 years). 13 were males and 5 females. RESULTS: Sugical technique: Most of the patients (13 pts, 72%) which were obviously treated with subclavian-aortic bypass with a Dacron prostheses. Mean preoperative and postoperative pressure gradients measured by echocardiography were 77.7 ± 20.16 mmHg and 22.3 ± 9.14 mmHg respectively. No mortality was observed in this series of patients. Chylothorax was the only complication observed in one patient in the early postoperative period. CONCLUSION: Coarctation of the aorta in adults is treated with optimal early results at our surgical centre. Subclavian-aortic bypass grafting requires less aortic dissection, can be performed with a partially occluding clamp, and does not compromise the spinal cord vascularization.

Surgical Treatment of Anomalous Origin of Right Coronary Artery in a Patient with Mitral Stenosis.

BACKGROUND: An anomalous origin of the right coronary artery is rarely observed, with a reported incidence between 0.026% and 0.25%. This condition is often completely asymptomatic and is found incidentally during angiographic evaluation for other cardiac diseases. However some patients present with exertion angina or sudden death. Surgical treatment in patients with anomalous RCA is still controversial. Treatment can be conservative, angioplasty or surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-year-old man was admitted with severe mitral stenosis. He complained exertion and rest dyspnea, NYHA III class. He had sequels of embolic stroke, results of left atrial thrombus. Echocardiography showed calcified severe mitral stenosis with mitral orifice area of 1.1 square centimeters with PSPAP 60 mmHg and normal LV function. Routine coronary angiography before surgery showed aberrant origin of RCA from the left sinus of Valsalva with 90% stenosis at his origin. Multi-slice computed tomography proved the diagnosis of anomalous RCA arising from the left sinus of Valsalva and taking an inter-arterial course between the aorta and pulmonary artery. The patient underwent mitral valve replacement with mechanical St. Jude prosthesis No 29 and saphenous vein graft to RCA. We chose by-pass grafting techniques because after aortotomy, RCA was too close to LMCA, intramural course was too short and stenosis of RCA was outside of aortic wall. The patient's perioperative course was without complications and patient was discharged on the seventh postoperative day. CONCLUSION: Correction of anomalous of the origin of right coronary artery is mandatory in cases where patient has to be operated for other cardiac causes.

Incidence and Impact of Patient-Prosthesis Mismatch in Isolated Aortic Valve Surgery.

AIM: The mains topics of this work are the incidence of patient-prosthesis mismatch and the influence in the early results of isolated aortic valve surgery. METHODS: In 193 patients isolated aortic valve surgery was performed. The study population was divided in three subgroups: 20 patients with severe, 131 patients with moderate and 42 patients without patient-prosthesis mismatch. The indexed effective orifice area was used to define the subgroups. Operative mortality and perioperative complications were considered the indicators of the early results of aortic valve surgery. RESULTS: The incidence of severe and moderate patient-prosthesis mismatch was respectively 10.3% and 67.8%. Hospital mortality and perioperative complications were: mortality 5% vs. 3.1% vs. 2.4% (p = 0.855), low cardiac output 5% vs. 6.9% vs. 4.8% (p = 0.861); pulmonary complications 5% vs. 3.1 vs. 0.0% (p = 0.430); exploration for bleeding 5% vs. 0.8% vs. 2.4% (p = 0.319); atrial fibrillation 30% vs. 19.8% vs. 11.9% (p = 0.225); wound infection 5% vs. 0.8% vs. 0.00% (p = 0.165), respectively for the group with severe, moderate and without patient-prosthesis mismatch. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-prosthesis mismatch is a common occurrence in aortic valve surgery. This phenomenon does not affect the early results of aortic valve surgery.

Chylopericardium after mitral valve repair for rheumatic valve disease treated with surgery.

Chylopericardium is a rare disorder that may be primary (idiopathic) or secondary to injury of the thoracic duct or thymus gland. Pediatric cardiac operations are more commonly related to this complication because thymus gland is very active in this population and atrophies in the adult patients. We present a case of chylopericardium after mitral valve repair for rheumatic disease, due to thymus gland tributaries injury.

Metformin-induced lactic acidosis associated with multiorganic failure.

Lactic acidosis is a rare but severe complication in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with metformin. Patients with lactic acidosis show commonly signs of shock, tissue hypoxia, acute hepatic or renal failure and the link between metformin therapy and lactic acidosis may be coincidental, associated or causal. Excessive plasma metformin concentrations show that lactic acidosis is due to a toxicological mechanism. We report a case of severe multiorganic failure in a subject after treatment with high doses of metformin.

Safe wrapping of the borderline dilated ascending aorta during aortic valve replacement.

BACKGROUND: Techniques of reduction aortoplasty are widely published in the literature with conflicting results. External support seems to be an important factor in preventing recurrence but, in some cases, this technique caused erosion of the aorta because of the wrinkles the prosthesis creates in the rear side of the aorta. CASE PRESENTATION: A 73 year old patient with aortic valve stenosis and borderline dilated ascending aorta had aortic valve replacement and simple wrapping without aortoplasty. To avoid the formation of wrinkles, the dacron external support was tailored appropriately to obtain a curved, custom-made prosthesis. This custom-made prosthesis had the same diameter as the dilated aorta and, after valve replacement, fitted it properly. After 18 months neither computerized axial tomography nor ecocardiography detected wrinkles or dilatation recurrence. CONCLUSION: A safe, simple and probably new way to prepare an external wrapping is presented, which in this patient respected the shape of the aorta and prevented the formation of wrinkles in the prosthesis and possible complications such as wall erosion.