Eight patients with aneurysms in the ascending aorta and the aortic arch underwent reconstructive surgery under deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest between Jan., 1988 and Jun., 1991. The patients consisted of 3 males and 5 females, ranging in age from 45 to 73 years (62.0±11.8, mean ±S.D.). Four patients were operated on in emergency. The lesions in 7 of 8 patients were Stanford type A dissecting aneurysms and the remaining one was a true aneurysm in the ascending aorta and the proximal aortic arch. The operation time, extracorporeal circulation time, and circulatory arrest time were 432.6±147.3, 191.9±66.1, and 31.0±10.8 (16 to 47) min, respectively. In all cases, the ascending aorta and the proximal aortic arch were replaced by an artificial graft through the median sternotomy approach. The brachiocephalic artery was reconstructed in 2 cases. The intraoperative blood loss was 4, 685±2, 943ml and the blood transfusion was 4, 659±2, 779ml. All patients awoke from 2 to 19hr after surgery and no complication in the central nervous system was observed. The postoperative complications which were detected in 3 patients consisted of drug induced renal dysfunction in 1 case, sinus arrhythmia in another, and mild hepatic dysfunction in the last case. There were neither operative deaths nor late deaths during the follow up period which ranged from 1 month to 42 months. Deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest should be regarded as a good circulatory support technique in reconstrutive surgery of the ascending aorta and the proximal aortic arch.

A 67-year-old woman underwent simultaneous surgical treatment of aneurysms in the descending thoracic and abdominal aorta. The aneurysm in the descending thoracic aorta was 5.0cm in diameter. The abdominal lesion which was accompanied by closed partial dissection was located below the renal arteries and its diameter was 7.8cm. First, the patient was positioned in right decubitus position and left thoracotomy was made. The descending thoracic aorta was replaced with an artificial graft under partial cardiopulmonary bypass through the left femoral vein and artery. Thoracotomy was closed after removal of cardiopulmonary bypass and neutralization of heparin with protamine sulfate. The patient's position was then changed to supine, and following median laparotomy, her abdominal aorta was replaced with an artificial graft. Her postoperative course was entirely uneventful except for slight hoarseness and transient urine disorder. Although simultaneous operation for multiple aneurysms may give more surgical stress to patients, it can reduce the risk of rupture of the remaining aneurysm as compared with surgical treatment in two stages. The order in which aneurysms are operated on should be considered well in simultaneous operation. It was considered in this case that the thoracic lesion should be treated first because crossclamping of the abdominal aorta may increase cardiac afterloads and result in rise of intraluminal pressure and rupture of the thoracic aortic aneurysm.

Among 232 patients undergoing repair for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) during a 10-year period, 5 (2.2%) patients had evidence of inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysms (IAAA). We examined their clinical course, laboratory, operative and histopathological findings, and considered possible correlations between their diagnosis and surgical treatment. Among these cases of IAAA, 2 patients complained of severe abdominal or back pain. The differential diagnosis from rupture of AAA was difficult in these cases. They also showed inflammatory signs in laboratory, operative and histopathological findings. Ultrasonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging appear to offer reliable means for diagnosing IAAA; In particular we could recognize the“Inflammatory mantle”in 3 cases, which indicated IAAA. In the surgical treatment, the presence of IAAA necessitates certain modifications in the surgical approach, in order to avoid injuring the retroperitoneal and abdominal structures. We could observe post-operative change in the thickness of the aortic wall, which decreases with time without anti-inflammatory agents.