Ischemic colitis following cardiac surgery is a rare but critical complication. We report two cases of ischemic colitis following cardiac surgery successfully treated with stenting of the stenotic celiac trunk. Case 1 was a 65-year-old man who developed perioperative myocardial infarction during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. He experienced abdominal pain and bloody stool on postoperative day 19. Severe ischemic changes in the sigmoid colon and descending colon were seen on colonoscopy, and CT scan revealed significant stenosis of the celiac trunk and occlusion of the inferior mesenteric artery and bilateral internal iliac arteries. Revascularization of the celiac trunk via stenting resulted in dramatic improvement in colonic ischemic changes. Case 2 was a 60-year-old woman who underwent a restoration procedure for a left ventricular aneurysm. She experienced gradual onset of postprandial pain beginning 9 days after surgery and massive bloody stool on postoperative day 33. Imaging revealed severe ischemic changes in the descending colon on colonoscopy and stenoses of the celiac trunk, superior mesenteric artery, inferior mesenteric artery, and bilateral common iliac arteries on CT angiogram. Stenting was performed to the celiac trunk on postoperative day 52. Her abdominal pain and bloody stool were completely resolved after treatment. Prior to the introduction of endovascular treatment of mesenteric ischemia in 1980, the standard treatment had been open surgical repair. Since then, endovascular repair has become widely accepted. In our experience, endovascular treatment of the mesenteric vessels may be an effective and less invasive approach to treating mesenteric ischemia in unstable patients after cardiac surgery.

Water Jet flow was projected at normal human aortic walls and human chronic obstructive iliac arteries in the air or in the ordinary saline solution. Ordinary saline solution was used for the jet, which was projected at a pressure of 10kg·f/cm² through a nozzle 0.10mm in diameter. When the Water Jet was projected at the normal aortic intima, damage to the wall was more severe with duration of fluid projection, and projection for ten sec ruprured the elastic fiber of the media. But when the fluid jet projected ordinary saline, damage to the aortic wall was slight and projection for 30sec only dissected the surface of the intima. Water Jet projection in air showed slight effect on thrombi of the chronic obstructive iliac arteries, and projection for 60sec only made small irregular holes in the thrombi. When the Water Jet was projected in ordinary saline solution, however, destructive effects on thrombi were stronger and the projection for 40sec could remove almost all the thrombi for a distance of 2cm, while damage to the initima was very slight. This study demonstrated that fluid jet projection using ordinary saline solution could remove thrombi in chronically obstructive artery safely and effectively and suggested the possibility of the Water Jet angioplasty.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is no consensus for using endoscopic papillary large balloon dilation (EPLBD) in patients without dilatation of the lower part of the bile duct (DLBD). We evaluated the feasibility and safety of EPLBD for the removal of difficult bile duct stones (diameter ≥10 mm) in patients without DLBD. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 209 patients who underwent EPLBD for the removal of bile duct stones from October 2009 to July 2014. Primary outcomes were the clearance rate and additional mechanical lithotripsy. Secondary outcomes were the incidence of complications and recurrence rate. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients had DLBD (27.3%), and 152 did not have DLBD (72.7%). There were no significant differences in the overall success rate or the use of mechanical lithotripsy. Success rate during the first session and procedure time were better in the DLBD than the without-DLBD group (75.7% vs 66.7%, 48.1±23.0 minutes vs 58.4±31.7 minutes, respectively). As for complications, there were no significant differences in the incidence of pancreatitis, perforation or bleeding after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. The recurrence rate did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: EPLBD is a useful and safe method for common bile duct stone removal in patients without DLBD.
Bile Ducts* ; Bile Ducts, Extrahepatic* ; Bile* ; Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde ; Common Bile Duct ; Consensus ; Dilatation* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lithotripsy ; Methods ; Pancreatitis ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies

This study was conducted to assess the ability of two-dimensional tissue tracking (2DTT) to evaluate changes in left ventricular (LV) myocardial function associated with sustained high electrical pacing. Pacemakers were implanted at the right ventricular (RV) apex of five female Beagles, and sustained high electrical pacing of 250 beats per minute (bpm) was performed for three consecutive weeks. Conventional echocardiography and 2DTT were performed at baseline, and at every week for three weeks with pacing. The baseline parameters were then compared to those of weeks 1, 2, and 3. Three weeks of pacing resulted in significant reduction of radial and circumferential global strains (p < 0.001). Regional analysis revealed reduction of segmental strains in both radial and circumferential directions, as well as increased dyssynchrony after three weeks of pacing in the radial direction (p = 0.0007). The results of this study revealed the ability of 2DTT to measure radial and circumferential strains in dogs with sustained high-electrical pacing, and allowed assessment of global and regional myocardial function and the degree of dyssynchrony.
Animals ; Cardiac Pacing, Artificial ; Dogs ; Echocardiography/*methods ; Female ; Heart Rate ; Heart Ventricles/*ultrasonography ; *Ventricular Function, Left

Background/Aims: Many Japanese institutions use electromagnetic extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) systems for treating pancreatic duct stones. However, there are no reports on direct comparisons between recent electromagnetic lithotripters. This study aimed to verify whether the new electromagnetic lithotripter can improve the efficiency of pancreatic stone fragmentation, and to clarify the role of combined endoscopic treatment on the clearance of pancreatic duct stones. Methods: We retrospectively identified 208 patients with pancreatolithiasis who underwent endoscopic adjunctive treatment after pancreatic ESWL at a single Japanese center over a 17-year period. We evaluated the outcome data of this procedure performed with SLX-F2 (last 2 years; group A) and Lithostar/Lithoskop (first 15 years; group B), as well as additional endoscopic treatments for pancreatolithiasis. We also performed logistic regression analysis to detect various factors associated with the procedure. Results: For pancreatic head stones, ESWL disintegration was achieved in 93.7% of group A patients and 69.0% of group B patients (p=0.004), and adjunctive endoscopic treatment removed stones in 96.8% of group A patients and 73.0% of group B patients (p=0.003). Multivariate analysis revealed that lithotripter type (odds ratio, 6.99; 95% confidence interval, 1.56 to 31.33; p<0.01) and main pancreatic duct stricture (odds ratio, 2.87; 95% confidence interval, 1.27 to 6.45; p<0.01) were significant factors for ESWL fragmentation. Conclusions The SLX F2 showed high performance in fragmenting the pancreatic duct stones.In addition, endoscopic adjunctive treatment improved the overall success rate of the procedure. The improved ESWL lithotripter has many advantages for patients undergoing pancreatic lithotripsy treatment.

We report a case of redo mitral valve replacement (MVR) for a Björk-Shiley Delrin valve implanted 47 years previously. A 71-year-old man initially underwent MVR for mitral regurgitation at our hospital at the age of 16 years. Following the operation, follow-up examinations were performed at the outpatient clinic and annual transthoracic echocardiogram findings showed only mild mitral regurgitation, with no adverse events noted. However, a transthoracic echocardiogram examination performed 45 years after the operation revealed mild to moderate mitral regurgitation, while dyspnea with exertion was also noted at that time. As part of a more detailed examination, transesophageal echocardiogram results showed moderate transvalvular leakage. Redo MVR was subsequently performed under the diagnosis of prosthetic valve dysfunction. Analysis of the explanted prosthetic valve revealed wear of the Delrin disk, and widening of the gap between the disk and strut, which were presumed to be the cause of transvalvular leakage. A half century has passed since introduction of the Björk-Shiley valve and the present is a rare case of valve malfunction. Presented here are related details, along with a review of existing literature and results of Björk-Shiley valve use at our hospital.