Search

We experienced 2 cases with distal stentgraft-induced new entry (distal SINE) after thoracic endovascular aortic repair( TEVAR) for type B aortic dissection and 1 case after total arch replacement and frozen elephant trunk method for type A dissection. We successfully performed additional TEVAR in all cases. If the stent graft is bent at deployment, distal SINE may occur on the great curvature side of the aorta by the spring back force. Therefore, we must pay attention to appropriate device selection, and even when remodeling of the aorta is good, meticulous follow-up is necessary.

Background and Aim of the Study: Recent brain complications (e.g., bleeding or infarction) in patients with active infective endocarditis (AIE) are recognized as a contraindication for early surgery. Nafamostat mesilate (NM) is a synthetic protease-inhibiting agent that has not only potent inhibitory activity against coagulation factors (Xlla, Xa) but also an anti-inflammatory action. Herein is reported the authors' successful surgical experience using NM with low-dose heparinization in patients with AIE complicated by recent cerebral complications., Methods: Twenty-eight patients (mean age 54.9 +/- 18.7 years) who had undergone surgery for AIE of the native valve (n = 21) or prosthetic valve (n = 7) were reviewed retrospectively. AIE was present in the aortic (n = 8), mitral (n = 16), aortic/mitral (n = 4) and tricuspid (n = 1) valves. Twenty-two of 28 patients had preoperative stroke, and six had active brain bleeding. Surgery was performed at a mean of 2.4 +/- 2.1 days after the onset of stroke. NM (209 +/- 152 mg) with low-dose heparin (3796 +/- 1218 IU; 67.4 +/- 20.3 IU/kg) was used for anticoagulation during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). The activated clotting time (ACT) was maintained at 350-450 s by the precise administration of NM into a cardiotomy reservoir (0.5 mg/kg/h) and a venous reservoir (sliding controlled dose at 1.5 mg/kg/h)., Results: The CPB time was 181.3 +/- 92.6 min. Five patients (17.8%) died during hospitalization due to persistent sepsis (n = 3), brain death caused by massive brain embolism before CPB establishment (n = 1), and pneumonia (n = 1). There was no further aggravation of intracranial bleeding, and no new hemorrhagic stroke., Conclusion: Nafamostat mesilate, administered in conjunction with low-dose heparinization, served as an effective anticoagulant for early surgery in patients with AIE complicated by stroke, and caused no further deterioration of the cerebral lesions.

Background: Conventional repair of posterior mitral valve prolapse involves quadrangular resection and sliding plasty. However, these 2 methods require annular plication and useful leaflet tissue is sacrificed., Methods: Our concept is to make an ideally shaped posterior leaflet without annular plication. When the leaflet is not high, we select triangular resection( TRR). For a high leaflet, we developed hourglass resection (HGR). The hourglass shape consists of 2 triangles:the upper inverted triangle is resected and the lower triangle is resected and sutured to the annulus. From 2007 to 2012, 65 patients with mitral regurgitation (MR) with leaflet prolapse were repaired. 49 patients who had posterior leaflet prolapse were analized in this study. The mean age was 61.7±11.5 years and 67.3% were men., Results: All patients underwent successful repair. There were no hospital deaths, or no systolic anterior motion. In 1 patient, repair was repeated 1 month post-operatively. The mean follow-up period was 2.6±1.5 (0.1 ~ 4.9) years. There were no late deaths. The most recent echocardiogram revealed no MR in 36, mild MR in 12, and moderate MR in 1 cases., Conclusion: The short-term results of our strategy for posterior leaflet repair are good.

Background: The treatment of aortic regurgitation( AR) with bicuspid aortic valve( BAV) repair is still uncommon as the reproducibility of the repair is low and the 5-year durability is poor. In this study, we examined a method of cusp suspension after triangular resection. In addition, the relationship between the length of the cusp margin and diameter of the sino-tubular( ST) junction was evaluated., Patients and Methods: We repaired 8 regurgitant BAVs between 1997 and 2011. The mean patient age was 35±14 years and 87.5% were male. All lesions were raphe type:7 were anterior-posterior type and 1 was left-right type. The basic technique was triangular resection of the pseudo-commissure.When the annulus or ST junction was dilated, annuloplasty or ST junction plication was added. Cusp suspension was performed in 7 patients. In 2 patients, the half-length of the cusp margin (d) was related to the diameter of the ST junction( D) as described by d=D/2+1., Results: Two cases were on a 2nd pump run because of residual AR. The valve was replaced in 1 case, while the cause of AR was found to be symmetric prolapse in the analysis. The coaptation depth was 6.2 mm. Another case was re-repaired because AR was caused by an untied suspension suture.Seven cases( 87.5%) were repaired successfully. No in-hospital deaths or complications occurred. The mean follow-up period was 5.42 years (range 1~15). No patients required re-operation and no recurrent AR greater than moderate occurred. The mean coaptation depth of the 7 successful patients was 11±3 mm., Conclusion: When repairing a regurgitant BAV, triangular resection alone is sometimes ineffective due to the occurrence of symmetric prolapse. For reproducible repair, it is useful to add cusp suspension.Lastly, the rate of suspension is related to the diameter of the ST junction.

Background: In this study, we assessed the repair techniques employed for mitral valve prolapse., Patients and Methods: Between 1992 and 2011, we repaired 173 consecutive patients with mitral valve prolapse. The mean age of the patients was 60.1 years and 68.6% were male. For anterior leaflet (AL) prolapse, 27 patients with fibroelastic deficiency (FED) were treated with chordal replacement (CR). In 21 patients with Barlow type, 2 were repaired with CR and the remaining 19 were repaired with resection. In 130 patients with a prolapse of the posterior leaflet (PL), we selected quadrangular resection( QR:44), sliding plasty( SP:12), folding plasty and CR. More recently, triangular resection (TrR:22) was selected for ≤18 mm height leaflets, and an hourglass resection( HgR:21) for high leaflets.Hourglass represents the shape of the resection., Results: In 1 patient of the AL CR group, the expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) was broken. Other patients in this group showed no mitral regurgitation (MR) and no re-operation during 16 years. Two patients receiving CR for AL Barlow received re-repair, whilst the other 19 patients in this group displayed good results over the following 19 years. In the QR and SP groups, 1 patient was rerepaired,whilst 3 patients displayed complicated mitral stenosis. In the TrR and HgR groups, no MR,no re-operation and no late deaths occurred during the following 4.5 years., Conclusions: CR for AL FED, resection for AL Barlow and TrR or HgR for PL were durable techniques for the treatment of mitral valve prolapse.