Aneurysm of peripheral pulmonary artery was rarely reported. A 51-year-old man who was pointed out a coin lesion at the right hilus region on the chest X-ray film complained back chest pain. Selective pulmonary arteriography revealed the peripheral pulmonary aneurysm of saccular dilatation running into the middle lobe. Aneurysmectomy was performed successfully and the patient returned to social work. Pathologic specimen revealed partly necrosis of medial cell. Eleven surgical cases including this case were reported in Japan. A brief review of the literature was made.

Congenital heart disease of partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage of entire left lung without other cardiac anomaly was very rare. 21-year-old man, who was pointed out heart disease 6 months ago, was diagnosed as partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage of entire left lung without other cardiac anomaly by cardiac catheterization and angiography. The patient underwent surgery through the left forth intercostal incision without cardiopulmonary bypass. The end-to-side anastomosis was made between the vertical vein and the left atrial appendage following ligation of the vertical vein near the innominate vein. Surgical treatment was satisfactory in the postoperative angiography which was shown widely patent anastomosis. He was discharged with uneventful postoperative course and returned to full activity.

We describe a 52 year old woman who had an aneurysm involving the common hepatic artery directly originating from the aorta. It was successfully treated by aneurysmectomy without needing the arterial reconstruction. An aneurysm of the common hepatic artery that has an anomalous origin from the aorta is very rare and only 4 cases including the present case were reported in Japanese literature on our survey. The features and management of hepatic aneurysm are discussed.

A case of a 77-year-old man is reported, who developed late rupture of the knitted Darcon velour graft by blunt trauma 8 years after implantation for axillo-femoral bypass. Dacron fiber deterioration, which led the graft to fragility, might have played a main role in the clinical setting. This case clearly emphasizes that with its possibility to be deteriorated life-long care and follow up should be taken for the patients who undergo arterial reconstructive surgery using Dacron prostheses.

We performed surgery for atrial fibrillation and mitral valve disease on 3 patients along with atrial mapping. Macroreentrant circuits were found in 2 patients and the other patient showed a preexcitation ectopic focus in the left atrium. Right atrial excitation was chaotic in all three patients. Of the two patients with reentry circuits, one patient underwent biatrial incisions and the other patient had only a left atrial incision. In the patient with a preexcitation ectopic focus, we performed cryoablation of that focus and made a left atrial incision in order to prevent the reoccurrence of atrial fibrillation after surgery. Following surgery, one patient experienced transient atrial fibrillation, however, continuous atrial fibrillation was resolved by this procedure and all patients returned to a normal sinus rhythm.

Cystic adventitial disease of the popliteal artery is an uncommon disorder. 58-year-old male complained of left intermittent calf claudication and couldn't sit straight. He preferred playing baseball and jogging. Digital subtraction angiograms revealed a smooth extrinsic compression on the proximal left popliteal artery. Surgical procedure was performed with posterior approach. The left popliteal artery was confirmed to be surrounded by two adventitial cysts at operation. After the evacuation and removal of these cystic wall, peripheral popliteal artery pulse was improved. Postoperative course was smooth and calf claudication was completely disappeared, post operative angiogram showed no stenosis. Histological examination of the resected specimen showed degenerated elastic fiber and inflammatory granulation. We have found 40 cases previously reported in Japan and the present case was 2nd one in our institute.

From March 1981 to March 1990, 61 patients with Stanford type B acute aortic dissection were initially treated by conservative therapy. Among these 61 patients, the dissected lumen became occluded due to thrombosis early after diagnosis in 25 patients (Group T) and remained patent in 36 patients (Group P). Twentythree patients in Group T (92%) and 22 patients in Group P (61%) were discharged without major complications related to acute aortic dissection. However, 2 patients in Group T (8%) and 14 patients in Group P (39%) required additional surgical therapy or died during hospitalization. The mean aortic diameter at the time of admission in Group T was smaller than that of Group P (38±3mm vs 43±7mm, p<0.05). During the observation period, there was a tendency for the diameter of the dissected aorta in Group T to decrease, but to increase in Group P. Long-term survival appeared to be better in Group T than in Group P, but there was no significant difference in the overall survival curve. Large aortic diameter at the time of admission and the presence of a true thoracic aortic aneurysm were major contributing factors influencing the prognosis. A long-term follow-up study showed that the dissected lumen reduced or disappeared in 14 of 23 patients in Group T (61%) but only 2 of 16 patients in Group P (12.5%). We concluded that the patients with small dissected aortas and thrombosed dissected lumens (Group T) can recuperate only with conservative therapy. However, patients with large dissected aortas and patent dissected lumen (Group P) may require surgical therapy even in Stanford type B aortic dissection.