A 38-year-old man underwent surgery for impending rupture of an inflammatory celiac artery aneurysm with a maximum diameter of about 50 mm. First, an extra-anatomical bypass was performed from the iliac arteries to the celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery and bilateral renal artery using ringed ePTFE grafts. Second, the celiac artery aneurysm at the distal site was directly closed and then a stent graft was placed in the abdominal aorta to cover the orifice of the celiac artery. An endovascular stent graft treatment combined with extra-anatomical bypass is useful for the treatment of inflammatory aneurysm to avoid the various surgical complications in Behçet syndrome.

A 46-year-old man was given a diagnosis of hypertension about 20 years previously. At age 41, aortitis syndrome was diagnosed, with descending thoracic aortic aneurysm and the coarctation of abdominal aorta by CT scan. He then underwent surgery to replace the descending thoracic aortic aneurysm and right axillo-bifemoral bypass. Recently, a thoraco-abdominal aortic aneurysm was pointed out at the distal site of the graft and, he was referred to our institute. We occluded the distal end of the aneurysm using an endoluminal occlusion stent graft. Today, in most cases of aortopathy associated with aortitis syndrome, surgical replacement of the aneurysms and extra-anatomical bypass is performed. An endovascular stent graft treatment combined with extra-anatomical bypass could be useful for various aortic disorders.

We report two cases of coronary artery fistulas (CAF) in children with successful surgical repair. The first case was a 14-year-old boy with a continuous heart murmur. A fistula was diagnosed between the right coronary artery (RCA) and the right atrium by echocardiography. He was asymptomatic, but the pulmonary to systemic flow ratio was shown to be high by cardiac catheterization. He underwent surgical closure of the fistula and coronary artery bypass grafting to the RCA with the right interthoracic artery. The second case was a 5-year-old boy with a continuous heart murmur and cardiomegaly on the chest X-ray film. The CAF from the left coronary artery to the right atrium was revealed by echocardiography. The pulmonary to systemic flow ratio was shown to be high by cardiac catheterization. He was asymptomatic, but he also underwent surgical closure of CAF. Surgical repair was effective and safe in these cases. Echocardiography was very useful in the diagonosis of CAF. Surgical repair in the young is recommended because CAF is much more likely to cause congestive heart failure, angina, and infective endocarditis when growing.

A 65-year-old man was admitted with subacute myocardial infarction. During medical treatment, the patient lost consciousness as a result of an atrioventricular block and underwent an operation for an emergency percutaneous coronary intervention in the right coronary artery. In a follow-up examination, transthoracic echocardiography and computed tomography showed a left ventricular pseudo-false aneurysm, and therefore another operation was carried out. The operative findings showed that the heart markedly adhered to the pericardium and the aneurysm at the apex. The patient then underwent a double-patch closure of the ruptured point using an equine pericardial patch and a Dacron patch. No perioperative complication was observed. Left ventricular pseudo-false aneurysm is a rare complication following myocardial infarction. Here, we report a successful case of a double-patch closure of a pseudo-false aneurysm.

We report a rare case of vasculo-Behçet's disease complicated by an intracardiac thrombus. A 48-year-old woman with a history of Behçet's disease and deep vein thrombosis in a lower limb, and who had been treated with colchicine and warfarin, was given a diagnosis of an appendectal tumor by colonoscopy. Preoperative examinations, including chest computed tomography, showed a pedunculated mobile tumor from her inferior vena cava (IVC) to the right atrium (RA). Urgent surgery was performed to prevent pulmonary embolism. We exposed the RA through a median sternotomy under cardiopulmonary bypass and extirpated the tumor that appeared macroscopically to be an organized thrombus attached to the IVC wall. The pathological diagnosis was organized thrombus. A month later, she underwent ileocecal resection and was given a pathological diagnosis of mucinous cystadenoma. Her postoperative course was uneventful. Intracardiac thrombus complicated by vasculo-Behçet's disease is rare, and it is important in the differential diagnosis of intracardiac tumor.

A 34-year-old woman had received a diagnosis of X-linked hypophosphatemic osteomalacia when she was born. As an adult she complained of general fatigue, palpitations dyspnea exertional and leg edema. Transthoracic echocardiography showed aortic stenosis and regurgitation with severe aortic valve calcification. Chest computed tomography revealed her ascending aorta to be circumferentially calcified. Surgery was performed through a median sternotomy via cardiopulmonary bypass, with perfusion from the right subclavian artery and the right femoral artery and drainage from the superior and the inferior venae cavae. A left ventricular venting cannula was inserted from the right superior pulmonary vein. When her bladder temperature had dropped to 28°C by central cooling, we stopped the perfusion from the right femoral artery and performed aortotomy. We examined the lumen and clamped the aorta at the usual site, while flushing with blood by femoral perfusion. Aortic valve calcification was observed to extend from the sinus of valsalva to the outflow tract of the left ventricle on the non-coronary cusp side. He was necessary to repair the aortic annulus due to a defect resulting from careful removal of the calcified valve. We then performed aortic valve replacement using a 19-mm Carpentier-Edwards perimount Magna. Her postoperative course was uneventful without any sign of neurological complications, and she was discharged 13 days after surgery. On pathological examination, localized ossification with calcification was observed in her aortic valve which seemed to be characteristic of X-linked hypophosphatemic osteomalacia.

Preoperative hemodynamics in the lower limbs in 174 limbs of 103 patients were measured and investigated and the surgical results were evaluated. The subjects were divided into the C_4-6-group, which included 51 limbs with skin changes, and the C_{2, 3}-group, which consisted of 123 limbs without skin changes. Plethysmography showed that the maximum venous outflow was significantly higher, and the refilling time was shorter in the C_4-6-group compared to the C_{2, 3}-group. All C_4-6-group patients had reflux of the long saphenous vein, and the reflux velocity and volume was significantly greater than in the C_{2, 3}-group. Limbs with deep vein reflux accounted for 45% of the C_4-6-group. We performed angioscopic deep vein external valvuloplasty in 23 of those limbs. There was no case of reccurence of skin changes at a mean follow-up of 22 months. However chronic venous insufficiency often was associated with multisegmental reflux lesions and in such cases it might be necessary to perform multiple surgical procedures to eliminate the reflux.

We report a rare case of acute type A aortic dissection with paraplegia which was reversed using cerebrospinal fluid drainage (CFD). The patient was a 80-year-old man who was admitted with acute back pain and paraplegia. Computed tomographic scans showed an acute type A aortic dissection. Four hours after onset of paraplegia, CFD was initiated by inserting an intrathecal catheter at L3-L4. Cerebrospinal fluid was drained freely by gravity whenever the pressure exceeded 10cmH₂O. After 32h, the neurological deficit was completely resolved. CFD can be considered a useful treatment in patients with paraplegia after acute aortic dissection.

Spinal cord ischemia is a very rare and unpredictable complication in surgery of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. A 65-year-old man who had a history of CABG (LITA-LAD, LITA-Y composite RA-OM) underwent resection of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Postoperatively, he developed paraplegia and hypoesthesia with associated fecal incontinence. Reduction of collateral flows of patent lumbar arteries probably caused serious ischemia of the spinal cord. A standard infra-renal abdominal aorta surgery still has the risk of postoperative paraplegia, which should be incorporated in the preoperative informed consent.

A 20-year-old man suddenly complained of back pain and bilateral lower limb weakness. Computed tomography showed acute type B aortic dissection. The patent false lumen extended from distal arch to the left common iliac artery. The true lumen was severely compressed by the false lumen and both legs were ischemic. He underwent emergency fenestration of the abdominal aorta and stenting of the left iliac artery. Although the lower limbs ischemia was improved, he developed myonephropathic metabolic syndrome and received plasma exchange, continuous hemodialysis and endotoxin absorption therapy. Thirteen days after the operation, intestinal ischemia occurred and he underwent emergency bowel resection with creation of a stoma. Development of dissection to the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and the malperfusion of SMA by severe compression of the true lumen were thought to cause intestinal ischemia.