Some doctors change specialty from cardiac surgery to cardiology or peripheral vascular surgery or practice general medicine before retirement age. We carried out a survey to investigate their working conditions and reasons for changing their specialty. We sent questionnaires by mail to 154 doctors of whom 56 (36%) answered. The most common reason for changing specialty was taking over their family's practice, and the second most common reason was a small income. Actually, the annual income of 41 doctors increased after changing from cardiac surgery (75%). Many cardiac surgeons have to work with a years lest self-sacrifice and unpaid overtime work. Of the respordents 65% could not renew their Japanese Board of Cardiovascular Surgery, because of their limited operative numbers. If the current condition continues, the number of cardiac surgeons in Japan will decrease. It is necessary to improve working conditions and the environment so that surgeons can concentrate more on operations.

A 78-year-old woman had been undergoing medical treatment for hypertension since she delivered a son in her early twenties. Three months previously, she was admitted with heart failure. She had felt leg fatigue for a long time, and the pressure gradient between the upper and lower limbs was about 60 mmHg. On further examinations, she was found to have an atrial septal defect (ASD), tricuspid valve regurgitation, atrial fibrillation, and severe coarctation of the aorta (CoA) with well-developed collateral arteries. We performed ASD closure, tricuspid annuloplasty with a flexible ring, left atrial maze operation and extra-anatomic bypass from the ascending to the abdominal aorta through a median sternotomy and upper median laparotomy. She had no postoperative complications and the pressure gradient between the upper and lower limbs improved remarkably postoperatively. It is rare for a patient over 70 years old who for the first time was given a diagnosis of CoA and ASD with other heart disease and who underwent surgical correction. We think one stage surgery with extra-anatomic bypass from the ascending to the abdominal aorta is a safe and effective technique for patients suffering CoA with heart disease.

Between September 1972 and December 1987, 808 gastric cancer patients were treated at our hospital. The male/female ratio was 1.7. Gastric resection was performed on 88% of the patients, while curative resection was performed on 59.2%. The operative mortarity rate was 1.8%.
In patients undergoing surgery, the cumulative 5-year survival rates according to stage were 96.4% for stage 1, 68.6% for stage 2, 48.7% for stage 3 and 4.5% for stage 4.
With the spread of a mass screening, many cases of early gastric cancer have been detected recently. However, the incidence of advance cancer increased with age. This suggests the necessity of encouraging the aged to participate in the mass screening. Though gastrectomy is safety procedure of encouraging the aged to participate in the mass screening. Though gastrectomy is safety procedure in old patients over 75 years of age, its indications should be evaluated taking into consideration the quality of the patient's life.

We reviewed 338 cases of colorectal cancer treated in our clinic since 1973. On these patients, 62% were aged 60 years or older.
By location, the malignant tumor was found most frequenty in the rectum, followed by the sigmoid colon.
Resection was perforoed in 94.3%, of the patients with curative resection accounted for 68.3%. In the curative resection group the cumulative 5-year and 10-year survival rates were 77% and 65, 9%, respectively.
Early colorectal cancer was detected in only 26 patients. Mass screening for colorectal cancer using occult blood tests of feces had just recently started in our communities. Thus, further efforts to detect early colorectal cancer are needed.

We report a case of massive endobronchial hemorrhage after cardiopulmonary bypass, and its successful treatment utilizing a bronchial blocker tube without circulatory support. An 85-year-old woman underwent mitral and tricuspid valves repair for mitral stenosis and regurgitation, and tricuspid regurgitation. The repairs were performed uneventfully. The patient was weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass. After protamine infusion, massive endobronchial hemorrhage occurred through the tracheal tube. On fiberoptic bronchoscopy, prompt identification and selective occlusion of the hemorrhage source was performed by a Coopdech endobronchial blocker tube (Daiken Medical Co., Ltd, Osaka, Japan). Postoperative contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed thrombogenic pseudoaneurysm of the right middle lobe pulmonary artery. We speculated that Swan-Ganz catheters induced endobronchial hemorrhage. The patient did not experience any further hemorrhage. She was discharged from our hospital on the 25th postoperative day in good condition.

The left ventricle assist device (LVAD) has become an important therapeutic option in the treatment of acute or chronic heart failure. It is usually used as bridge to transplantation or recovery. At present, destination therapy with LVAD has been a therapeutic option in patients with heart failure in whom transplantation is not indicated. We describe a patient, who received destination therapy with LVAD, and was able to go home temporarily. The patient was a 63-year-old man with low output syndrome after acute myocardial infarction. An LVAD (TOYOBO) was implanted at Oita University Hospital, however the patient suffered from MRSA mediastinitis 6 months later. He and his family wished for him to temporarily go home to Ibaraki. The patient, supported by LVAD, was transferred from Oita to Ibaraki by a regular commercial flight and ambulance. Rehabilitation training involved stretching, in-bed muscle strength training, maintaining a standing position, walking on flat ground with a walker and going up and down ramps. All training was measured at the patient's home. The patient was out of hospital for 5 hours, and this period was uneventful upon leaving hospital. The patient also took an active part in rehabilitation after discharge. This program can help to improve the quality of life (QOL) of patients with implanted LVADs for destination therapy.

A 16-year-old female who complained of hoarseness and left back pain. An abnormal shadow in the left superior mediastinum was observed in chest X-ray films. Thoracic aortogram revealed elongations of the aortic arch and two sacculated aneurysms located in the minor curvature of the arch. She was operated by median sternotomy and left collar incision. The left vagal nerve laid between the two aneurysms. The proximal aneurysmal wall seemed to be of normal thickness, but the distal aneurysmal wall was so thin that the intraluminal blood stream was visible. Aneurysmectomy and insertion of a Dacron patch were successfully performed under cardio-pulmonary bypass with selective cereberal perfusion. The postoperative course was uneventful.

We report a case of a 16-year-old boy with Marfan's syndrome who underwent Bentall's procedure on a diagnosis of acute aortic dissection (DeBakey type II). He was readmitted with pyrexia 5 months after the initial operation. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) was detected by blood culture and transesophageal echocardiography revealed a vegetation adherent to the entry of a remaining false lumen just distal to the distal anastomosis. Although antimicrobial therapy was employed, an arterial embolism developed in the right popliteal artery. CT scan revealed dilatation of the false lumen, and consequently, emergency surgery was performed. The intima of the distal aortic end was partially out of the suture line and the vegetation adhered at that point. Re-replacement of the ascending aorta, omental transposition, and embolectomy of the right femoral artery were performed and resulted in a satisfactory course.

We present here a rare case of coronary artery bypass grafting through a left thoracotomy after substernal gastric interposition for esophageal cancer. A 58-year-old man, who had undergone esophagectomy and substernal gastric interposition 11 years previously, was admitted for cerebral infarction from which he made a good recovery without any complication. At this time, the patient was diagnosed as having coronary artery disease on electrocardiogram. Cardiac catheterization revealed triple vessel disease. Coronary artery bypass grafting to the left anterior descending artery and obtuse marginal branch through a left thoracotomy was performed using a radial artery Y-graft under femorofemoral bypass. The aorta was cross-clamped and the heart was arrested with antegrade cold cardioplegic solution for the distal anastomosis of the left anterior descending artery and the obtuse marginal branch which was embedded within the myocardium. The postoperative angiography showed good coronary flow. Left thoracotomy approach provides a good exposure of the left coronary artery. This approach, therefore, is advocated as an alternative method for cases requiring coronary artery bypass but in which median sternotomy is difficult, such as the present case. The appropriate procedure for the site of thoracotomy, supporting methods, choice of graft, and the site of graft anastomosis should be selected in each patient.

A 61-year-old man, who had previously undergone quadruple coronary artery bypass graft surgery, was successfully treated for proximal descending aortic aneurysm using hypothermic circulatory arrest via a left thoracotomy. Preoperative angiograms revealed that the left internal thoracic artery bypass graft to the LAD was patent, and that the aneurysm was located at the descending aorta just distal to the left subclavian artery. Operative procedures were as follows. A left thoracotomy incision was made through the 4th intercostal space. The common femoral artery and vein were cannulated, and the venous cannula was positioned in the right atrium. The patient was cooled by partial cardiopulmonary bypass until the EEG was isoelectric (24°C rectal temperature), and then circulation was arrested. Left ventricular decompression was not performed. After opening of the aneurysm, proximal anastomosis was performed first at the aorta just distal to the left subclavian artery. Another arterial cannula, connected to the Y-shaped arterial line, was inserted into the graft, and perfusion to the brain was restored through this cannula. Distal anastomosis was then completed, and routine cardiopulmonary bypass was reestablished. After the heart was defibrillated, the patient was rewarmed to 34°C before discontinuing the bypass. Circulatory arrest time and total cardiopulmonary bypass time were 17 minutes and 139 minutes, respectively. Postoperative recovery was uneventful.