We present the case of a 53-year-old man who developed delayed-onset paraplegia after type A dissection repair. He was referred to our hospital with a diagnosis of type A dissection, for which we performed total arch replacement. Although the patient started walking on postoperative day 4, on postoperative day 5, he developed lower limb paraplegia without any precipitating episodes. Computed tomography showed that the false lumen was thrombosed in the upper descending thoracic aorta and hypoperfused in the lower descending thoracic aorta. The cerebrospinal fluid was immediately drained to maintain the spinal pressure at 14 cm H₂O for four days. Although the patient began to move his legs immediately after treatment, he remained paraparetic, and was transferred to another rehabilitation hospital on postoperative day 40.

Postoperative hemodynamic performance after aortic valvular replacement using the Carpentier-Edwards pericardial valve of 19-mm (group A, 10 cases) or 21-mm (group B, 5 cases) was compared with that using the 19-mm St. Jude Medical hemodynamic plus (group C, 13 cases). We evaluated hemodynamic performance by measuring the peak pressure gradient via aortic valve using Doppler echocardiography. Preoperative peak pressure gradients were 80±18.5mmHg in A, 81.6±17.5mmHg in B and 87±36.3mmHg in C. Valvular replacement obviously improved the hemodynamic performance by decreasing the postoperative peak pressure gradient to 24.2±7.3mmHg in A, 14.2±6.2mmHg in B and 26.7±19.0mmHg in C, though no statistically significant difference was present among the three groups. We also applied the dobutamine stress test for 5 cases in group A, 4 in B and 4 in C, who could receive the additional examination. The amount of dobutamine given was 8.2±1.6μg/kg/min in A, 7.2±2.0μg/kg/min in B and 7.7±1.5μg/kg/min in C. Before administration of dobutamine, the peak pressure gradient was 18.1±4.3mmHg in A, 14.2±6.2mmHg in B and 20.9±5.7mmHg in C. Although administration of dobutamine increased the peak pressure gradient to 41.1±15.0mmHg in A, 32.2±9.8mmHg in B and 46.8±14.4mmHg in C, there was no significant difference among the groups. The Carpentier-Edwards pericardial valve of 19-mm and 21-mm thus provided satisfactory valvular function compared with the 19-mm St. Jude Medical in terms of hemodynamics. Therefore, it is concluded that the Carpentier-Edward pericardial valve is a reliable alternative for elderly patients.

The total arch replacement protocol using the open-style stent-graft placement is frequently performed for type A aortic dissection to obtain complete closure of entry sites. However the open-style stent-graft placement must be carefully planned when the entry site is in the descending aorta and extends beyond the level of the tracheal bifurcation, because spinal cord ischemia can be caused due to occlusion of lower thoracic intercostal arteries. We report an alternative to total arch replacement for type A aortic dissection with entry in the ascending aorta and aneurysmal re-entry in the descending aorta, beyond the level of the tracheal bifurcation. We inserted a guide-wire from the dissected area of the aortic arch towards the normal region beyond the re-entry in the descending aorta, with confirmation by direct ultrasonography and already incised half, introduced a graft into the descending aorta using the wire as a guide and performed anastomosis at the level of the transverse aortotomy in the inclusion method. This operation has the advantage of preventing spinal cord ischemia because the re-entry site in the descending aorta is confirmed by direct ultrasonography and the distal anastomosis does not reach the lower thoracic intercostal arteries. In this method, by which the prosthesis is introduced through the descending aorta and anastomosed in the inclusion method, is not needed troublesome treatment in the descending aorta and less invasive than conventional single-stage total arch replacement and applicable with the great safe for aortic dissection that had shown difficulty in application of open-style stent-graft placement.

A 63-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for combined valvular disease with tricuspid valve stenosis. Aortic and mitral valves were replaced with artificial valves and tricuspid valve were replaced with a biological valve. We chose artificial valves for the aortic and mitral valves because the patient was younger than 70, while a biological valve was used for the tricuspid valve to avoid possible thromboembolism. The postoperative course was excellent. We propose that it is better to use a biological valve for the tricuspid valve, even if artificial valves are used in other sites.

A 79-year-old man underwent aortic valve replacement by xenografts for active infective endocarditis with aortic regurgitation. Two months later, he developed congestive heart failure and uncontrolled infective endocarditis. The second operation was performed 3 months later, with an aortic valve translocation procedure because of aortic regurgitation due to aortic root abscess and prosthetic valve endocarditis. Six months after the second operation, the saphenous vein graft (SVG) to the left coronary artery (LAD) revealed a severe stenotic lesion at the proximal site. The stenotic vein graft fed almost the entire left coronary circulation. The third operation was performed via left thoracotomy, under hypothermic circulatory arrest with cardiopulmonary bypass. A new radial artery (RA) graft was anastomosed between the descending thoracic artery and the old SVG for LAD. The patient recovered without any major complications and postoperative angiography showed that the new RA graft was patent.

We performed entry closure for the chronic type B dissecting aneurysms by open surgical procedure or endovascular stent-graft placement. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the mid-term results of these patients with respect to mortality, morbidity, change of aneurysm diameter and outcome of the false lumen. From 1996 to 2003, entry closure was performed on 8 patients with chronic dissecting aortic aneurysm with an entry site in the descending aorta and visceral arteries that originated from the true lumen. The study population consisted of 4 men and 4 women with a mean age of 63.8±10.9 years. One patient had a DeBakey type III a and 7 patients had a DeBakey type III b dissecting aneurysm. Five patients underwent surgical entry closure and 3 patients underwent endovascular stent-graft placement. The mean follow-up period was 40±29 months. No operative mortalities, complications of paraplegia or visceral ischemia occurred. A leak was identified in 3 patients, 1 patient underwent an open repair with descending aortic replacement and 1 patient required additional stent-grafting. In the follow-up period, 1 patient died of cancer, but there were no dissection-related mortalities or re-operations for increase in size. With the exception of 1 case with a graft replacement, complete thrombosis of the thoracic aortic false lumen was achieved in 6 cases. There were no significant differences in the pre- and postoperative aortic diameter. Overall, complete thrombosis of the thoracic aortic false lumen was achieved with a high rate of success without a dissection-related mortality. Long-term follow-up, however, is necessary because a reduction in size did not occur in some cases.

Infectious endocarditis associated with Streptococcus bovis, which is rare in Japan, is a frequently reported complication of gastrointestinal tumors, especially in colon cancer. We report a patient who was successfully treated for the S. bovis-induced infectious endocarditis complication in colon cancer. A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for detailed examination of high fever of unknown origin, that had lasted for 2 months. S. bovis was identified in the venous blood culture. An echocardiogram showed severe aortic valve regurgitation of the third degree and vegetation on the aortic valve. We therefore diagnosed infectious endocarditis. Colonoscopy revealed sigmoid colon cancer. After endoscopic mucosal resection of the lesion, the aortic valve was replaced. The postoperative course was uneventful and he was discharged from the hospital 36 days post operatively.

A 37-year-old man who had suffered right chest pain while mowing weeds was transferred to our hospital. A chest roentgenogram revealed a needle-like foreign body overlying the cardiac silhouette and chest CT confirmed an intracardiac foreign body. The patient underwent emergency operation, and a foreign body was removed under cardiopulmonary bypass and performed cardiac repair. A foreign body penetrated right lung and reached it in the left atrial cavity. The patient recovered uneventfully without any symptoms of infections.

Infectious endocarditis associated with Streptococcus bovis, which is rare in Japan, is a frequently reported complication of gastrointestinal tumors, especially in colon cancer. We report a patient who was successfully treated for the S. bovis-induced infectious endocarditis complication in colon cancer. A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for detailed examination of high fever of unknown origin, that had lasted for 2 months. S. bovis was identified in the venous blood culture. An echocardiogram showed severe aortic valve regurgitation of the third degree and vegetation on the aortic valve. We therefore diagnosed infectious endocarditis. Colonoscopy revealed sigmoid colon cancer. After endoscopic mucosal resection of the lesion, the aortic valve was replaced. The postoperative course was uneventful and he was discharged from the hospital 36 days post operatively.

We report a case of tricuspid infective endocarditis with peripheral pulmonary artery aneurysm. A 31-year-old man with a history of intravenous drug abuse was admitted to our institution. Echocardiography showed severe tricuspid valve insufficiency and large vegetation (10 mm) attached to the tricuspid valve. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a right peripheral pulmonary artery aneurysm. We operated because of the large amount of vegetation. Before the operation, we performed coil embolization for peripheral pulmonary aneurysm. During the operation, we removed the posterior leaflet with vegetation, and performed tricuspid valve repair. The postoperative course was uneventful. Postoperative echocardiography did not show any tricuspid valve insufficiency or vegetation.