Diagnosis of cardiac rupture caused by blunt trauma is sometimes difficult when multi-organ injuries are associated with profound shock. Only prompt diagnosis and urgent treatment can save the patients. We have encountered 16 cases of blunt cardiac rupture, including 4 that survived in the past 10 years. All cases of cardiopulmonary arrest on arrival were unable to be resuscitated. Also, all cases of profound hemorrhagic shock caused by multi-organ injury succumbed. Among the cases in which the region of cardiac rupture was identified, only cases of injury to the right heart chambers were saved. No case of rupture in the left heart chambers survived. It is definitely important to suspect cardiac injury and make a prompt diagnosis to save patients with blunt chest trauma. Ultrasonic cardiography is highly effective for urgent diagnosis of cardiac rupture because it can be performed readily, noninvasively and, therefore, repeatedly.

A 16-year-old girl with aortitis syndrome under treatment with a low dose of prednisolone was admitted because of severe headache and intermittent claudication. Angiography revealed diffuse stenosis of the thoracoabdominal aorta and the bilateral renal arteries. Extra-anatomical bypass grafting from the ascending to the abdominal aorta was first made with a 14mm woven Dacron graft through a midline sternolaparotomy. Bilateral renal arteries were difficult to dissect due to periarterial adhesion. Bypass grafting for the left renal artery could be performed with a 5mm external velour wrap-knit Dacron graft (Sauvage, Bionit); however, the right renal artery was so thin that bypass was made with a 4mm EPTFE graft which was demonstrated to be occluded by follow-up angiography 3 years after surgery. The postoperative course has been uneventful and she has been free from symptoms up to now. The good long-term function of the bypass graft from the ascending aorta holds promise for diffuse coarctation of the thoracoabdominal aorta due to aortitis syndrome.

We treated 261 arteriosclerosis obliterans cases with critical leg ischemia since 1976. Those patients aged 75 years and older were designated as the elderly group and were compared with those under 75 years of age. Among the elderly patients with critical leg ischemia, the percentages of women and Fontaine scale IV cases were higher. The condition of those who had to undergo an initial major amputation was often complicated by cerebrovascular diseases, resulting in a higher early death rate after operation. Therefore, the necessity of early diagnosis and immediate treatment must be emphasized. There were no differences in patency and limb salvage rates between the two groups. In cases of arterial reconstruction however, graft occlusion in the elderly group immediately after operation was frequently observed. It is important to include drug therapy in follow-up to prevent occlusion of the graft following surgery in elderly patients.

A 27-year-old man had received Bentall's operation for annuloaortic ectasia with Marfan's syndrome 4 years previously. He was admitted to our hospital because of sudden abdominal pain and lumbago. The abdominal pulsatile mass with tenderness was palpated and dilatation of abdominal aorta was revealed by abdominal ultrasonography. An emergency operation was performed under a diagnosis of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. At operation, the infrarenal abdominal aorta formed a fusiform aneurysm of which maximum diameter was 6cm. The aneurysm had a thin wall, and ruptured opening about 2cm in diameter at the posterior wall, but no thrombus inside. Graft replacement was done from the infrarenal abdominal aorta to the bilateral common iliac artery using knitted Dacron vascular prosthesis, and reconstruction of inferior mesenteric artery with wrapping of the proximal anastomosis were performed. Histopathological examination of the aneurysmal wall revealed medial necrosis and degeneration, by which Marfan's syndrome was diagnosed. Although abdominal aortic aneurysm is rarely associated with Marfan's syndrome, it often shows rapid development and has a high risk of rupture. Therefore, we suggest that strict observation and early operation are important for abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with Marfan's syndrome.

During 23 years, 224 cases underwent graft replacement of thoracic aortic aneurysms at our institution. Of these, 14 cases suffered postoperative vascular graft infection. Out of the 14 cases, 13 cases had sternal or mediastinal infections, and one case showed sepsis without these deep wound infections. Six cases were positive by blood culture. We thought that sternal or mediastinal infections had a high possibility of contamination of vascular grafts and that cases with these deep wound infections should be treated as cases of graft infection. Reoperation was done urgently soon after the diagnosis of infection was made. When the wound was not so deep, only debridement was performed. In addition to debridement, continuous irrigation through a chest tube and, recently, pedicled omental flap placement were done, when the wound was deep. Except for the one case without deep wound infection, 13 cases were reoperated. There were 4 hospital deaths; 3 operated cases and the nonoperated case, due to lack of control of their infection. Blood culture were positive in all these four cases. The other 10 cases were discharged from hospital without infection. Infection of vascular grafts after operation for thoracic aortic aneurysms is a serious complication and urgent reoperation should be done. However it should be noted that the mortality rate of cases with positive blood culture is high.

A 26-year-old man was suffered a tendon injury in the left knee when playing American football 3 years previously and was treated consevatively. He was admitted to our hospital because of coldness and paresthesia in the left leg since 2 months previously. Femoral angiogram revealed severe stenosis of left popliteal artery and occlusion of the anterior and posterior tibial artery. CT and MRI examination revealed a tumor which protruded into the lumen of the left popliteal artery or dissection of left popliteal artery. Operation was performed by a posterior approach. The left popliteal artery was not compressed from the lateral side and there was a white thrombus in the popliteal artery. Thromboendartherectomy and autologus venous patch plasty was done. Histopathological findings of the stenotic lesion revealed an organizing thrombus, chiefly consisting of fibrin, and intima both of which were infiltrated by granuration tissue. It was suggested that the stenotic lesion was caused by arterial wall hyperplasia or thrombus formation during the healing process after blunt arterial injury. The post-operative course was uneventful.