Idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome (IHES) is a rare systemic disease, but frequently associated with the eosinophil-infiltrated end organ (cardiac, hematologic, cutaneous, neurologic, pulmonary, splenic and thromboembolic) failure. Mechanical valve replacement for valvular heart disease in cases of IHES has the potential of thromboembolic accidents in the early post-operative period, even though the strict anti-coagulant therapy was performed. We reported a younger IHES case with congestive heart failure due to severe mitral regurgitation who underwent mitral valve repair instead of replacement. In this case, only the lateral scallop of the posterior mitral leaflet was involved with endocarditis due to the eosinophyl infiltration, with no other symptoms, i.e., initial hyperplasia and thrombus in the left ventricle that were detected in the most cases with IHES endocarditis. Mitral annuloplasty with the complete ring was simply performed because of the presence of sufficient intact anterior leaflet. The eosinophil count had been strictly controlled with imatinib mesilate in addition to the anti-coagulant therapy, and any thromboembolic event had been detected post operatively. In case of valvular heart disease due to IHES endocarditis, valve repair should be firstly attempt and imatinib mesilate is very useful and effective for preventing from post-operative thromboembolic accidents in FIP1L1-PDGFRα gene positive cases.

Drug refractory atrial flutter (AF) with secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) and pulmonary valvular stenosis was treated by surgical correction and intraoperative radiofrequency (RF) current ablation. Supraventricular arrhythmia, especially AF, is frequently found in aged patients with ASD. Perioperative managements for this arrhythmia were difficult because of drug refractoriness. We performed this ablation combined with intracardiac corrections, and sinus rhythm has been maintained without any drugs for 18 months. This case indicated that RF current ablation during open-heart surgery is useful and safe method of treatment of AF.

From 1995 till 1998, 21 cases of Stanford type A dissecting aortic aneurysm with a closed false lumen of the ascending aorta were treated in our institute. The patients were medically treated if the diameter of their ascending aorta stayed less than 50mm without recurrent dissection. Patients were categorized into three groups: Groups I, II and IIIR (retrograde dissection), according to the location of the entry analyzed by means of CT, angiography and operative findings. Seven cases of intramural hematoma (IMH) were included in this study. One case in Group II died of rupture and one case in Group IIIR died of multiple embolism caused by atrial fibrillation in the acute phase. One case in Group II died of stroke and one case in Group I died after surgery in the chronic phase. Four cases in Group I and II underwent surgery in the acute phase and five cases in Group I and II underwent surgery in the chronic phase, but only one case of Group IIIR required surgery. Six cases of IMH required surgery. The rates of freedom from operation at four years was 25%, 21% and 83% respectively (p=0.07). Essentially, Stanford type A dissection should be treated surgically even though the false lumen is thrombosed. However, in the case of retrograde dissection accompanied by an entry in the descending aorta, medical treatment may be a strategy option.