Purpose: Acute pulmonary embolism (PE) remains a significant cause of morbidity and requires prompt diagnosis and management. While non-surgical approaches have supplanted surgery as primary treatment, surgical pulmonary embolectomy (SPE) remains a vital option for select patients. We review the current management of acute PE, with a focus on surgical therapy.

Methods: A PubMed search was performed to identify literature regarding PE and treatment. Results were filtered to include the most comprehensive publications over the past decade.

Results: PE is stratified based on presenting hemodynamic status or degree of mechanical pulmonary arterial occlusion. Although systemic or catheter-guided fibrinolysis is the preferred first-line treatment for the majority of cases, patients who are not candidates should be considered for SPE. Studies demonstrate no mortality benefit of thrombolysis over surgery. Systemic anticoagulation is a mainstay of treatment regardless of intervention approach. Following surgical embolectomy, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been shown to reduce recurrence of thromboembolism.

Conclusions: Acute PE presents with varying degrees of clinical stability. Patients should be evaluated in the context of various available treatment options including medical, catheter-based, and surgical interventions. SPE is a safe and appropriate treatment option for appropriate patients.

Background: Function tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is frequently observed in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery. It is unclear that mitral valve repair (MVr) or mitral valve replacement (MVR) has influence on the likelihood of late TR progression.

Methods: This study included 193 patients with degenerative mitral valve disease who underwent either MVr or MVR. Detailed preoperative materials, follow-up information, and echocardiographic data were collected and statistically analyzed.

Results: At 6 and 12 months postoperatively, MVR patients were more likely to have New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV symptoms than MVr patients (6 mo: 15.2% vs 5.0%, 12 mo: 13.0% vs 4.0%, both P <0.05). At 24 months, the incidence of Grade 1+ TR was significantly higher in MVR patients than MVr patients (25.0% vs 12.9%, P <0.05). In univariate analysis, age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.036, P = 0.036), MVR (OR = 2.256, P = 0.033), and preoperative TR area (TRA; OR = 1.541, P = 0.047) were significant predictors for TR progression. In multivariate logistics analysis, only MVR was independently risk factor (P = 0.006). Subsequently, patients were divided into tricuspid valve repair (TVr) group and untreated group. In both subgroups, MVR patients were associated with significantly larger TRA (P <0.01).

Conclusion: MVR was an independent risk factor for TR progression, whether tricuspid valve was treated or not.

Background: There is no clear finding on the course of coexisting aortic regurgitation (AR) after treatment of mitral regurgitation (MR). We investigated the effect of mitral surgery for MR on coexisting AR.

Methods: Between January 2008 and December 2016, 75 patients underwent mitral surgery for MR coexisting mild AR. Of these, 65 patients who were available to follow-up postoperative echocardiographic tests 1 year after surgery were included in the present study. Patients were divided into two groups according to the degree of postoperative AR. We investigated the predictive factors for continued AR and perioperative cardiac function.

Results: In all, 22 patients’ AR improved and became less than mild and 43 patients’ persisted at mild or increased. The predictive factor for continued AR was left atrial diameter >50 mm (P = 0.021, odds ratio = 4.739, 95% confidence interval: 1.259–17.846) in multivariate logistic regression analysis. No patients underwent reoperation for continued AR in both groups. However, one patient was rehospitalized for heart failure in the continued AR group.

Conclusion: Left atrial diameter may be an important prognostic factor for continued AR after mitral surgery for MR. MR with mild AR should be treated as soon as before the left atrium expands.

Purpose: Immunosuppressant and steroid are inevitable for graft survival after renal transplantation, and their usage is known to be a risk factor for mortality and morbidity after cardiac surgery. We evaluated the long-term clinical outcomes in patients who underwent cardiac surgery after renal transplantation.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 23 patients who underwent cardiac surgery after renal transplantation with maintained grafts at the time of the cardiac surgery in our institution between June 2000 and June 2018 (19 males, 4 females; mean age, 55 (38–81) years).

Results: The interval from renal transplantation to cardiac surgery was 80.0 ± 84.6 (0.25–298) months. The mean follow-up period after cardiac surgery was 78.3 (range: 1–216) months. Cumulative survival rates at 1, 5, 7, and 10 years were 95.7%, 95.7%, 87.7%, and 68.2%, respectively. Renal graft survival rates at 1 and 5 years were 86.1% and 79.9%, respectively.

Conclusions: This retrospective review suggests that cardiac surgery in kidney transplant patients can result in good survival rates. Thanks to dedicated postoperative and long-term management, approximately 80% of the renal grafts still maintained their function 5 years after cardiac surgery.

Purpose: To investigate the hemodynamics characteristics of the “no-touch” saphenous vein graft (SVG) conduits by nicardipine intraluminal administration in vivo experiment.

Methods: A total of 59 consecutive patients were enrolled and underwent a sequential SVG to three non-left anterior descending (LAD) targets with the average runoff ≤2 mm, 30 with “no-touch” harvest technique (group A) and 29 with conventional preparation (group B). The patients were subject to nicardipine intraluminal injection during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedure. The intraoperative flow was measured with the ultrasonic transit time flow meter (TTFM), and the graft patency testified by multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) angiography, respectively.

Results: The baseline blood flow was higher in group A than that in group B (p <0.05). However, the increases in blood flow of SVG conduits in group A were lower than those in group B with 19.7 ± 5.9 vs. 35.4 ± 9.2 mL/min, 14.8 ± 5.6 vs. 23.1 ± 6.8 mL/min, 6.6 ± 2.1 vs. 11.2 ± 4.3 mL/min before the first, second, and third anastomose after nicardipine intraluminal administration, respectively (all p <0.01).

Conclusions: No-touch SVGs were associated with higher baseline blood flow and less rises after nicardipine intraluminal administration during off-pump CABG procedure compared with conventional preparation. The no-touch SVGs seemed to be less spastic and well-tolerated on flow dilatation.

Introduction: Primary leiomyosarcomas (LMS) of the mediastinum are extremely rare malignant mesenchymal tumors developing from soft tissues or great vessels. We present a case of a primary leiomyosarcoma of the middle mediastinum in which long-term survival was achieved.

Case Report: A 77-year-old man presented to us for examination with an extrapleural sign in his upper mediastinum on chest X-ray. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a well-circumscribed mass in the middle mediastinum. Thoracoscopic resection of the mediastinal tumor and immunohistological findings, which were positive for smooth muscle actin (SMA), HHF-35, vimentin, and desmin confirmed primary leiomyosarcoma. It recurred twice with solid right pulmonary metastases, which were resected. He was followed-up for a total of 9 years and 6 months from the first surgery with no signs of recurrence after his last surgery.

Conclusion: Surgical resection of both the primary tumor and pulmonary metastases remains the mainstay of treatment of primary leiomyosarcomas.

We present the case of an 86-year-old male with an aortic arch saccular aneurysm who underwent zone 1 thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) with debranching from the right subclavian artery to the left carotid and left subclavian arteries. The patient developed a type Ia endoleak 1 month later. Postoperative contrast computed tomography (CT) showed a hematoma around the aneurysm, concerning for impending rupture. He thus underwent emergency endograft removal and replacement with a one-branched graft using selective cerebral perfusion via the left subclavian artery perfusion. The left subclavian artery was used for systemic and cerebral perfusion without need for cannulation of the cervical arteries. The patient was successfully discharged 6 months after surgery.

We present the case of a 33-year-old woman with a non-aneurysmal, symptomatic aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA) traveling posterior to the esophagus, as demonstrated on chest computed tomography (CT) scans. She was treated with a less invasive surgical approach: closure of the anomalous vessel close to its origin from the aortic arch, through a left thoracoscopic procedure, followed by right common carotid-subclavian artery transposition via an open right supraclavicular approach. This method avoids the postoperative morbidity associated with open thoracic surgery and allows a clear identification of the anatomic structures minimizing possible procedure-related complications as a long residual arterial stump.