A 76-year-old man who had undergone primary coronary operation through a median sternotomy 9 years previously presented with recurrent angina. Preoperative angiography revealed 90% stenosis of the circumflex coronary artery and left subclavian artery. Two saphenous vein grafts (SVG) placed in the previous operation were patent. Redo off-pump CABG was performed through a left thoracotomy approach. The proximal end of the new SVG was connected to the descending thoracic aorta using the St. Jude Medical aortic connector system. The distal anastomosis to the obtuse marginal branch was performed on a beating heart. The postoperative course was uneventful. This case suggested that, in cases requiring the proximal graft anastomosis on the descending aorta, the application of the aortic connector system can be a useful strategy, helping to facilitate the proximal anastomosis and avoid complications associated with the aortic partial-clamping on the descending aorta.

In a consecutive series of 160 surgically treated abdominal aortic aneurysm, four patients with acute aortic thrombotic occlusion of an abdominal aortic or iliac aneurysm were encountered. Three of four aneurysms were 7cm in diameter or smaller. Also, 3 of 4 patients had chronic occlusive disease of legs. Our mortality rate was 75%. The recommendation is made that all abdominal aortic aneurysms be resected if there is substantial associated distal occlusive disease.

A 44-year-old woman with over 20 years history of rheumatic heart disease developed progressive heart failure from aortic stenosis and mitral restenosis after open mitral commissurotomy. In December, 1986, she underwent aortic and mitral valve replacements with Medtronic Hall prosthesis (aortic: 21mm, mitral: 27mm). Following an eventful recovery, she was discharged from the hospital and continued on a regimen of Coumadin. In February, 1991, the patient developed chest and back pain, which necessitated her emergency admission to our clinic. During the coronary examination, the aortic prosthetic occluder was not moving, fixed in the opening position, lasting from one to several minutes. She underwent emergency operation for replacement of the defective valve. At operation, we noted the pannus formation into the valve orifice on the inflow side of aortic prosthesis. She made a satisfactory recovery and has enjoyed good health since that time.

To investigate the effect of nafamostat mesilate (FUT) for disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) after surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass, we studied DIC scores and parameters of coagulation and fibrinolysis in the DIC cases. Although 12 patients developed DIC, the platelet counts improved by administration of FUT apart from one complicated by sepsis. The DIC scores decreased as a result of the increase of platelets and fibrinogen and improvement of FDP. Thrombin-antithrombin III complex, D-dimer and plasmin-α₂ plasmin inhibitor complex showed an even higher value at the endpoint of FUT administration. These results indicate that patients with DIC after cardiopulmonary bypass may have severe fibrinolytic acceleration and that administration of FUT can be useful in those cases.

This is a case report of a rare combination of a single coronary artery and a coronary artery fistula. An 8-year-old girl was asymptomatic with a grade II continuous murmur in the third left intercostal space. Selective coronary angio-graphy revealed that a single coronary artery arising from the left aortic sinus was dilated and ended as a fistula to the outflow tract of the right ventricle. At operation, the fistula could not be exposed on the surface of the heart. On cardiopulmonary bypass, the aorta was clamped, and the fistula was closed by direct suture in the right ventricle. The postoperative course was uneventful with no complications.

A cervical aortic arch is a very rare congenital malformation of aortic arch. A case is reported of a 42-year-old woman with an extensive circular aneurysm of a left-sided cervical aortic arch. The arch aneurysm was successfully removed surgically and replaced with woven Dacron graft. Histologic examination of the aneurysm revealed atherosclerosis and intimal defect.

The diagnosis of pituitary carcinoma cannot be made easily histologically, and most cases of pituitary carcinoma are diagnosed only after the clinical detection of metastasis. Distant metastasis of pituitary tumor occurs in 0.1% to 0.2% of cases and has been reported in the liver, bone and central nervous system, with only one case of metastasis to the cauda equine reported. This study describes a rare case of the drop metastasis of adrenocorticotropic hormone-producing pituitary adenocarcinoma to the cauda equina, causing cauda equina syndrome.
Adenocarcinoma ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Cauda Equina* ; Central Nervous System ; Diagnosis ; Liver ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Pituitary Neoplasms* ; Polyradiculopathy