Japanese Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery
Online ISSN : 1883-4108
Print ISSN : 0285-1474
ISSN-L : 0285-1474
Volume 41, Issue 6
Displaying 1-12 of 12 articles from this issue
Preface
Case Reports
  • Tsuyoshi Yamabe, Shunich Kondo, Jun Hirota, Hitoshi Yokoyama
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 285-288
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    We report a case of minimally invasive cardiac surgery treated by small right intercostal thoracotomy for left atrial myxoma after substernal reconstruction of the esophagus using gastric interposition. This technique could not only alleviated risk at the second median sternotomy, but was also minimally invasive. A 63-year old man was admitted to our hospital for complaints of right upper limb asthenia and slight fever. Computed tomography showed cerebral infarction. Moreover, cardiac ultrasonography showed a giant myxoma in the left atrium. We thought that it was impossible to reperform median sternotomy, because there was high risk of injury to the reconstructed esophagus using a gastric duct behind the sternum. The patient underwent excision of the myxoma by the right intercostal thoracotomy approach, and did well. He was discharged from the hospital without any complications.
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  • Yoshiyuki Yamashita, Sosei Kuma, Atsushi Guntani, Ryota Fukunaga, Jin ...
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 289-292
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A 52-year-old woman had undergone colectomy and adjuvant chemotherapy for stage IV cecal cancer with peritoneal dissemination and multiple metastases to the lung and liver. After two years of follow-up, she suddenly had right upper limb pain and was reffered to our hospital for treatment of acute upper limb ischemia. Enhanced CT revealed obstruction of the right brachial artery and metastatic lung cancer with pulmonary vein invasion. We performed emergency embolectomy with local anesthesia. The patient's perioperative course was uneventful. Pathological findings of the removed embolus revealed that it contained adenocarcinoma cells. We concluded that the embolus had originated from the metastatic lung cancer with pulmonary vein invasion.
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  • Mikito Inouchi, Yu Shomura, Michihiro Nasu, Yukikatsu Okada
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 293-295
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A 53-year-old woman with von Recklinghausen's disease was admitted with severe pain and acute right leg swelling. The physical examination revealed neurofibromas and café-au-lait spots, typical of patients with von Recklinghausen's disease. Computed tomography and ultrasonography showed a rupture of a posterior tibial artery pseudoaneurysm. Since her complaint of pain was severe and because of the rapid progression of pseudoaneurysm, we performed an emergency operation. Under general anesthesia with the pneumatic tourniquet technique, both of the proximal and distal sides of the posterior tibial artery were ligated, and the pseudoaneurysm was resected. The postoperative course was uneventful. She was given an ambulatory discharge 26 days after operation. Histological examination revealed spindle-shaped cells infiltrating the aneurysmal wall. We diagnosed this is a vascular lesion of von Recklinghausen's disease.
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  • Kentarou Inoue, Chiaki Kondou, Ryo Maeshiro, Hitoshi Suzuki
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 296-298
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A 37-year-old man had been hospitalized at another hospital where he was being treated for encephalitis. Early one morning, the patient had sudden precordial chest pain and dyspnea, so he was examined further. Contrast-enhanced CT revealed filling defects in both pulmonary arteries and in the right and left atria, indicating acute pulmonary embolism. Cardiac ultrasound revealed thrombi floating in the right and left atria, and the patient displayed pulmonary hypertension (estimated pressure : 50 mmHg). Since scattering of thrombi in the left atrium carried the risk of arterial embolism, emergency surgery was performed at this hospital. An incision was made in the right atrium with the heart stopped, revealing a tubular thrombus trapped in the foramen ovale. The trapped thrombus was completely removed, and the patient's life was saved since arterial embolism, e.g. paradoxical cerebral embolism, did not occur. This case involved a rare pathology and is thus reported here together with a discussion of the literature.
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  • Mikio Sugano, Tatsuo Motoki, Hirotsugu Kurobe, Homare Yoshida, Taisuke ...
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 299-303
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A 69-year-old woman had syncope and aphasia. Magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple cerebral infarctions in both hemispheres. Cardiogenic embolisms were suspected, but no arrhythmic causes were shown. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed a highly calcified mitral annulus (MAC) with a rough intraluminal surface and mild mitral regurgitation, but no thrombus or tumor in the left heart system. However, recurrent multiple cerebral embolisms occurred in spite of strict anticoagulation therapy. We speculated that spontaneous rupture of the MAC was the cause of the scattered cerebral embolisms, and we therefore planned to remove the MAC as safely as possible and to endothelialize the deficit of MAC with autologous pericardium. Operative findings revealed that the MAC in P2-P3 had ruptured longitudinally and the ostium of the left atrium was connected to the ostium of the left ventricle as an inter-atrioventricular tunnel beneath the posterior mitral annulus with a fragile calcified wall. The finding suggested that calcified particles that had peeled away from the MAC by normal heart beating resulted in the cerebral infarctions. Therefore, she underwent resection of the MAC and mitral valve replacement with reinforcement of the decalcified posterior mitral annulus between the posterior left ventricular wall and the left atrial wall using autologous pericardium, which enabled both appropriate insertion of a mechanical prosthetic valve and endothelial continuity covering the surface of the residual MAC. No systemic embolism has occurred for two and a half years after surgery. This is the first case report of cerebral embolism caused by a spontaneously ruptured MAC.
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  • Sho Matsuyama, Hiromichi Sonoda, Yuuta Yamaki, Yasuhisa Oishi, Yoshihi ...
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 304-307
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    A 37-year-old man presented with extensive myocardial infarction due to total occlusion of the left main trunk, complicated with near-fatal heart failure. An extracorporeal left ventricular assisted system LVAS (NIPRO-Toyobo LVAS) was implanted in our hospital. Although his postoperative course was relatively good, acute cholecystitis occurred on the 31st postoperative day, and emergeney cholecystectomy was indicated. His PT-INR was 4.13 because of taking Warfarin orally, and the cannulas of LVAS passed through his skin at the subxiphoid region. Therefore, we preoperatively transfused fresh frozen plasma quickly to reverse the PT-INR (approximately 2.0) and performed open cholecystectomy via the right side of the para-rectus abdominal muscle. His postoperative course was uneventful, and he is waiting for heart transplantation in our hospital.
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  • Masaki Funamoto, Kenji Minakata, Kazuhiro Yamazaki, Senri Miwa, Akira ...
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 308-311
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Extensive calcification of the mitral annulus presents a formidable technical challenge to surgeons and increases the risk of serious complications such as intractable hemorrhage, atrioventricular disruption, and ventricular rupture during mitral valve surgery. We present a case of aortic and mitral valve replacements for a patient with extensive calcification of an intervalvular fibrous body. A 76-year-old woman was admitted with dyspnea on effort, leg edema and syncope. Transthoracic echocardiography showed severe aortic stenosis, and mitral stenosis with regurgitation, and extensive mitral annular calcification. Decalcification was performed with CUSA and we selected a trans-aortic-valve approach for decalcification of the intervalvular fibrous body. The calcification was left to a certain extent in order to preserve annular strength. Postoperative echocardiography showed no perivalvular leakage from either prostheses. The patient was transferred to a local hospital for further rehabilitation.
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  • Yukio Kioka, Atsushi Tanabe, Mitsuhito Kuriyama
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 312-315
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) intravesical instillation therapy for bladder cancer is accepted as an effective treatment, and infectious complications are rare. We present a case report on a patient with a common iliac pseudoaneurysm and a recurrent mycotic thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm, who had a history of previous BCG therapy for bladder cancer. A 64-year-old man underwent emergency graft interposition of the right common iliac artery due to a ruptured pseudoaneurysm. Nine months after initial surgery, a biopsy of the pelvic retroperitoneal collection revealed epithelioid granuloma with caseous necrosis. Ziehl-Neelsen stain and mycobacterial culture were positive for acid-fast bacilli, which was identified as BCG (Tokyo 172). Diagnosis of BCG infection was delayed because of lack of clear clinical evidence of persistent infection. After 6 months of antituberculous chemotherapy the patient underwent resection of the mycotic thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm and in situ reconstruction with a branched Dacron graft soaked in rifampicin because of its rapid growth. The pathological diagnosis was infectious aneurysm with sclerosis and epithelioid granuloma, however, acid-fast stain and culture were negative. Nine months later CT showed no recurrence of infectious aneurysm. Because the clinical presentation of BCG mycotic aneurysm is different from bacterial or fungal mycotic aneurysm, diagnosis by means of medical history checking and clinical presentation, in addition to surgical and medical combined treatment are important for its management.
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  • Takashi Yoshinaga, Ryuji Kunitomo, Shuji Moriyama, Ken Okamoto, Hisash ...
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 316-319
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is characterized by vascular findings (aortic aneurysms and dissections) and skeletal manifestations. Since aortic dissection occurs at smaller aortic diameters than observed in Marfan syndrome, early and aggressive surgery is recommended for patients with LDS. A 45-year-old man who underwent aortic valve replacement for aortic regurgitation at the age of 33 was transferred to our hospital with the diagnosis of acute aortic dissection. We performed emergeny ascending aortic replacement, and suspected LDS because of his specific physical characteristics after surgery. His postoperative course was uneventful, however, computed tomography (CT) performed at 2 weeks after operation showed the new entry at the distal anastomotic site, patent false lumen of the descending aorta and rapid enlargement of the distal aortic arch. Therefore, we performed total arch replacement with the elephant trunk method at 3 weeks after the emergency operation. Mutation of the TGFBR2 gene was found and we finally diagnosed LDS. One year after, complete thrombosis of the false lumen of the descending aorta and decrease in size of the distal aortic arch was observed by CT.
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  • Takanori Tokuda, Takashi Murakami, Yuki Yamada, Takashi Yamamoto, Sato ...
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 320-322
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    We report a case of redo aortic valve replacement by right minithoracotomy approach for aortic stenosis after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). An 81-year-old man was followed-up once a year for 9 years after CABG. He complained of increasing respiratory distress, showed narrowing of the aortic valve area, elevation of the aortic valve pressure gradient, and tricuspid valve regurgitation by echocardiography. He was admitted for surgery. We considered minimally invasive operation would be better for him and performed aortic valve replacement (Carpentier-Edwards Perimaunt valve 19 mm) by a right minithoracotomy approach because graft injury could occur by median sternotomy after CABG, and he had the risks of advanced age, low activities of daily living, and mild dementia. His postoperative course was uneventful. On echocardiography performed at postoperative days 9, the ejection fraction recovered to 75% from 53% before surgery and the mean aortic valve pressure gradient was 8 mmHg. He was discharged on postoperative day 12. Right minithoracotomy approach with port access is a good option for redo operation for aortic valve stenosis after CABG.
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  • Yuichiro Kishimoto, Munehiro Saiki, Yoshinobu Nakamura, Yoshikazu Fuji ...
    2012 Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 323-326
    Published: November 15, 2012
    Released on J-STAGE: December 04, 2012
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    Hybrid techniques to enable endovascular treatment of complex aortic pathology have been previously described. A staged endograft repair of a complex, chronic Stanford type B aortic dissection with atherosclerotic occlusion of bilateral iliac arteries is reported in a 66-year-old man. The patient also had chronic obstructive lung disease as well as chronic renal dysfunction. The aneurysmal portion of the dissection extended from the distal arch to the entire thoracic aorta. Bilateral femoral arteries were bypassed from the abdominal aorta using open techniques. Then, total arch replacement with a frozen elephant trunk was performed through median sternotomy. Finally, the aneurysmal portion was completely covered with an endograft from the frozen elephant trunk to the upper abdominal aorta, just proximal to the celiac trunk. The patient had no neurologic complications. This case report illustrates the feasibility of the hybrid technique in selected high-risk patients when confronted with complex aortic pathology.
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