A 69-year-old man developed abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) during treatment for chronic renal failure at another hospital. On admission, CT revealed infrarenal AAA associated with horseshoe kidney. The aneurysm was exposed through a transperitoneal approach, and aortoiliac reconstruction was performed preserving the renal isthmus. Two accessory renal arteries were reconstructed. Postoperatively, both reconstructed arteries were patent on angiography, and postoperative renal function was not impaired. In surgery for AAA with horseshoe kidney, preservation or reconstruction of renal feeding arteries is important to maintain renal function.

A 76-year-old man was admitted with a diagnosis of mitral valve regurgitation and angina pectoris. Cardiac catheterization demonstrated grade III mitral valve regurgitation with elevated pulmonary pressure and stenosis in the LAD. Severe stenosis in the left internal carotid artery and multiple cerebral infarctions were also recognized. Mitral valve repair with coronary artery bypass was performed at one month after the left carotid endarterectomy. The ascending aorta contained fragile atheroma, so an arterial cannula was inserted into the graft anastomosed to the right axillary artery. Mitral valve repair with coronary artery bypass was performed under moderately hypothermic ventricular fibrillation. Air embolism in the right coronary artery was recognized during systemic rewarming. Mitral valve repair with coronary artery bypass was performed safely under moderately hypothermic ventricular fibrillation in this case of an atherosclerotic ascending aorta. Axillary artery cannulation is useful to avoid cerebral complications in such cases. The de-airing procedure should be completed before the initiation of the heart beating.

A 70-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of upper abdominal pain. Computed tomography revealed a 6-cm tumor next to the inferior vena cava (IVC). Venography revealed obstruction of the IVC, and venous return was via collateral circulations. Right nephrectomy and tumor resection of the middle part of the IVC was performed. The left renal vein, which was invaded by tumor, was divided without venous reconstruction. Pathological diagnosis was leiomyosarcoma. Postoperatively hemodialysis was needed for a month, but maintenance hemodialysis was avoided. Leiomyosarcoma of the middle part of the IVC sometimes invades bilateral kidneys, and sometimes it is not possible to reconstruct the renal vein. It is important to recognize collateral circulation by preoperative angiography, and to protect such circulation during operation.

We present a case of successful mitral valve repair in a 38-year-old woman with Marfan's syndrome. Prolapse in a redundant billowing posterior mitral leaflet caused severe mitral valve regurgitation. Only slight dilatation of the sinus Valsalva and grade I aortic regurgitation were recognized. At operation, prolapsed portions seen on both sides of the middle scallop were quadrangularly resected. The sliding leaflet technique reduced the height of the posterior mitral leaflet to prevent systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve, which could be expected to occur after the operation. The anterior extremities of the Carpentier-Edwards annuloplasty ring were bent upward to accommodate the shape of the anterior mitral leaflet. Mitral valve regurgitation disappeared postoperatively, and she is now doing well 3 years after the operation. In general, isolated mitral valve regurgitation appears in relatively young patients with Marfan's syndrome, and these patients are at high risk of developing aortic dissection and aortic regurgitation. Therefore, mitral valve repair should be performed to improve the quality of life after the operation, and to reduce the risk of bleeding, which may be a lethal complication in aortic surgery.

Postoperative cardiac function and the occurrence of arrythmia depend upon myocardial protection during open heart surgery in severe concentric hypertrophy. The effect of myocardial protection was evaluated in terms of several released cardiac enzymes before and after reperfusion, and postoperative left ventricular (LV) cardiac function from cardiac pool scintigram in 21 cases with aortic stenosis (AS Group). These data were compared with 20 cases with aortic regurgitation (AR Group). Heart weight and aortic cross-clamping time were not significantly different in these two groups. The enzymatic values in peak total creatine-kinase (CK) and peak CK-MB fraction were higher in the AS group than in the AR group, and peak GOT was significantly elevated in the AS group (peak GOT: 93±32 in AS group, 64±17IU/l in the AR group, p<0.01). Among the cases in the AS group, six cases with LV small cavity (LVDd<4cm) and severe concentric hypertrophy were associated with high values of released enzyme and the occurrence of ventricular arrythmia. Postoperative cardiac function was estimated from both systolic parameters such as LV ejection fraction (LVEF) or peak ejection rate (PER) and diastolic parameters such as peak filling rate (PFR) or early diastolic filling rate (1/3PFR). Postoperative LVEF and PER improved to normal control levels in the AS group with preoperatively depressed systolic function, although values were decreased in the AR group with impaired systolic function. The postoperative early diastolic peak filling rate did not recover to control levels in the AS group as well as the AR group, and was impaired in the AS group with severe concentric hypertrophy due to elevated chamber stiffness and the delay of time to peak filling rate. In severe concentric hypertrophy, we used several techniques for myocardial protection of terminal blood cardioplegia, and gradually increased reperfusion pressure and LV venting after reperfusion. Late results revealed a good clinical course in all 21 cases except for the occurrence of arrythmia in three.

Left ventricular wall motion was evaluated after mitral valve replacement (MVR). MVR for mitral regurgitation (MR) was performed with preservation of both anterior and posterior chordae tendineae (Group I, n=12) or posterior chordae tendineae (Group II, n=9). MVR for mitral stenosis was performed with the preservation of the posterior chordae alone (MS Group, n=12). Postoperative regional wall motion was analyzed from the shortening fraction (SF) of the centerline method in 5 of antero-basal (AB), anterolateral (AL), apical (AP), diaphragmatic (DP) and posterobasal (PB) regions. The percentage of post-operative SF for preoperative value (%SF) was compared between Group I and Group II. The value of %SF improved much more in Group I than in Group II at the AL and AP regions. %EF was more significantly increased in Group I than in Group II, although postoperative ESVI and EDVI decreased in both groups. In the MS Group, EF, ESVI and EDVI did not change after surgery. The regional wall motion improved except in the calcified PB region. These results demonstrated that the preservation of both anterior and posterior chordae tendineae for MR was a useful procedure to improve postoperative LV regional wall motion. The preservation of posterior chordae for MS was sufficient to improve the regional wall motion except in the calcified submitral region.