Abstract
Among the 203 cases of aortic valvular surgery, we experienced 8 cases of acute coronary insufficiency during the early postsurgical period. Five cases suffered from right coronary insufficiency. The other 2 cases had left coronary failure, and the remaining case had both. The main symptom of right coronary failure was right ventricular dysfunction, resulting in inability to wean from cardiopulmonary bypass in 3 cases, and left ventricular dysfunction due to inferior myocardial infarction in 2 cases. On the other hand, the main symptom of left coronary insufficiency was acute left ventricular pump failure with a broad anteroseptal infarction, and cardiac arrest occurred in the other 2. All patients receiving an emergency coronary artery bypass graft survived. Two cases expired due to thromboembolism in the interposed graft to the left coronary ostium in Cabrol's or Piehler's procedures. In the 6 survivors we could not detect any recent coronary lesions by postsurgical coronary cineangiography. We suggest that the pathophysiology of this phenomenon was coronary artery spasm and a lack of coronary reserve capacity in severe left ventricular hypertrophy of aortic valvular disease combined with diastolic dysfunction. Prompt coronary artery bypass grafting and a careful myocardial protection using retrograde cardioplegic solutions might save patients in this critical condition and an appropriate decision on the surgical indications for aortic valvular surgery is necessary before the occurrence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and demand ischemia.
