Hybrid Repair of Kommerell Diverticulum and Aberrant Subclavian Artery with Compressive Symptoms and a New Strategy: Case Report.

Surgical indication and treatment for patients with Kommerell diverticulum and aberrant subclavian artery are still not well established. A patient with esophageal and tracheal compression resulting from these anatomical abnormalities was successfully treated with a hybrid approach of total arch replacement, frozen elephant trunk technique, aberrant left subclavian artery transection, and left subclavian artery reconstruction through median sternotomy. Compressive symptoms were relieved without resecting the enlarged diverticulum. In this case, the importance of preoperative investigation for the main cause of compressive symptoms is illustrated and a novel treatment strategy is outlined.

Differential Phenotypes in Perivascular Adipose Tissue Surrounding the Internal Thoracic Artery and Diseased Coronary Artery.

Background Perivascular adipose tissue ( PVAT ) is causally associated with vascular function and the pathogenesis of vascular disease in association with metabolically driven chronic inflammation called metaflammation. However, the difference in PVAT surrounding the coronary artery ( CA - PVAT ) and that surrounding the internal thoracic artery (ITA-PVAT), a vessel resistant to atherosclerosis, remains unclear. Herein, we investigated whether CA - PVAT , ITA - PVAT , and subcutaneous adipose tissue ( SCAT ) have distinct phenotypes. Methods and Results Fat pads were sampled from 44 patients (men/women, 36:8; age, 67±13 years) with CA disease who underwent elective CA bypass grafting. Adipocyte size in ITA - PVAT and that in CA - PVAT were significantly smaller than that in SCAT . A greater extent of fibrosis and increased gene expression levels of fibrosis-related molecules were observed in CA - PVAT than those in SCAT and those in ITA - PVAT . CA - PVAT exhibited more pronounced metaflammation, as indicated by a significantly larger extent of CD 68-positive and CD 11c-positive M1 macrophages, a lower ratio of CD 206-positive M2 to CD 11c-positive M1 macrophages, a lower gene expression level of adiponectin, and higher gene expression levels of inflammatory cytokines and inflammasome- and endoplasmic reticulum stress-related molecules, than did ITA - PVAT and SCAT . Expression patterns of adipocyte developmental and pattern-forming genes were totally different among SCAT , ITA - PVAT, and CA - PVAT . Conclusions The phenotype of ITA - PVAT is closer to that of SCAT than that of CA - PVAT , which may result from inherent differences in adipocytes. ITA - PVAT appears to be protected from metaflammation and consecutive adipose tissue remodeling, which may contribute to the decreased atherosclerotic plaque burden in the ITA.

New parameter of the right gastroepiploic arterial graft using the power spectral analysis device named MemCalc soft.

OBJECTIVES: Transit-time flow measurement (TTFM) parameters such as mean graft flow (MGF, ml/min), pulsatility index (PI) and diastolic filling (DF, %) have been extensively researched for internal mammary arterial or saphenous vein grafts. In our experience of using the right gastroepiploic arterial (GEA) graft for right coronary artery (RCA) grafting, we observed unique GEA graft flow waveforms. We analysed the GEA graft flow waveforms for their effectiveness in determining GEA graft patency by power spectral analysis. METHODS: Forty-five patients underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass using the GEA graft for RCA grafting individually. The means of intraoperative MGF, PI and DF were compared between patent and non-patent grafts, postoperatively. Furthermore, the GEA flow data were output and analysed using power spectral analysis. RESULTS: Forty grafts were 'patent' and five were 'non-patent'. There were no significant differences in the mean TTFM parameters between the patent and non-patent grafts (MGF: 22 vs 8 ml/min, respectively, P = 0.068; PI: 3.5 vs 6.5, respectively, P = 0.155; DF: 63 vs 53%, respectively, P = 0.237). Results of the power spectral analysis presented clear differences; the power spectral density (PSD) of patent grafts presented high peaks at frequency levels of 1, 2 and 3 Hz, and the non-patent graft PSD presented high peaks that were not limited to these frequencies. The PSD had a sensitivity and specificity of 80 and 87.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Power spectral analysis of the GEA graft flow is useful to distinguish between non-patent and patent grafts intraoperatively. This should be used as a fourth parameter along with MGF, PI and DF.

Evaluation of gastroepiploic arterial grafts to right coronary artery using transit-time flow measurement.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to analyse the relationship between the intraoperative transit-time flow measurement (TTFM) parameter values and the postoperative angiographic results of gastroepiploic arterial (GEA) grafts to the right coronary artery (RCA). We investigated whether the intraoperative TTFM parameter values are reliable indicators of early patency in GEA grafts to the RCA. METHODS: Patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery with GEA grafts were included in this study. Eighty-three GEA grafts were individually anastomosed and examined by angiography 1 week after surgery. The quality of each graft was graded using FitzGibbon grading (Study 1) and graft-flow grading (Study 2). RESULTS: Study 1: Seventy-two grafts were determined as Grade A and 11 as Grades B or O. There were no significant differences in the average of mean graft flow (MGF), pulsatility index or diastolic filling percentage between Grade A and Grades B or O grafts. Study 2: Sixty-two grafts were graded as good-graft dominant, 16 as bidirectional and 5 as occlusion including string. The average of the MGF, pulsatility index and diastolic filling percentage in the grafts graded as bidirectional and occlusion including string were not significantly different from those of grafts graded as good-graft dominant. CONCLUSIONS: Previously reported cut-off values for intraoperative TTFM parameters could not be adapted for the early patency of GEA grafts to the RCA. However, the smoothness of the graft-flow curve may be a reliable predictor of postoperative graft patency.