BACKGROUND: Stanford type A aortic dissection is a sur gical disease which has its intimal tear point somewhere in the aorta. The start ing intimal tear point of the type A aortic dissection has not been a common iss ue in the therapy of the aortic dissection. So we analysed our surgical cases of the type A acute aortic dissection subdivided by the location of intimal tear point. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between M arch 1991 and July 1999, 40 patients with type A acute aortic dissection underwe nt surgical repair. In 27 patients intimal tear was found within the ascending a orta and aortic arch(Group I), but in 13 patients not found(Group II). All clini cal factors were compared between two groups and analized retrospectively. RESULT: The Group I had more s erious preoperative conditions such as shock, aortic regurgetation, cardiac isch emia and renal failure than the Group II. Group I had more aortic valve abnormal ies. Group II had more hematoma in the false lumen but it had no statistical sig nificance. Group II had more frequent postoperative renal dysfunction than Group I, but Group I had more reoperations from bleeding. The surgical mortality rate was 22.2 % in Group I and 0 % in Group II. CONCLUSION: The patients with ascending aortic intimal tear point had poor preoperative conditions and more ao rtic valve abnormalities, which resulted in the poor postoperative prognosis. Be sides the patients without ascending aortic intimal tear point developed intraop erative malperfusion of distal organ more frequently. Conclusively the prognosis of the patient without intimal tear in ascending aorta was better than that of the patient with intimal tear in ascending aorta.
Aorta ; Aortic Valve ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Renal Insufficiency ; Retrospective Studies ; Shock

BACKGROUND: Primary cardiac tumors are extremely rare. The most common type are benign myxomas, and these are almost completely curable with early surgery. Malignant tumors, however, such as sarcomas, are difficult to remove surgically, and their prognosis is known to be poor. In this study, data on patients who had undergone surgical treatment of cardiac tumor in the authors' hospital were collected and analyzed. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The subjects included 28 patients who had undergone surgical treatment of cardiac tumor from August 1993 to December 2008. Their medical records were reviewed and retrospectively analyzed. RESULT: The patients were aged from 20 to 76 years (mean age: 54.2+/-15.6), and 11 were male (39%) and 17 female (61%). Fifteen of them (54%) underwent emergency surgery to improve heart failure symptoms. The most common preoperative symptom was dyspnea (15 cases, 54%). Preoperative echocardiography was performed on all the patients. The average size of the tumor as measured during the operation was 7.0+/-6.9 cm (the average length of the long axis was 2~40 cm), and the sites of tumor attachment were the interatrial septum (18 cases, 64%), the left atrium (9 cases, 32%), the mitral valve annulus (2 cases, 7%), and the left ventricle (2 cases, 7%). The operation was performed with an incision through both atria in all the patients, and a complete excision was made in 25 cases (89%). According to the biopsy results, there were 4 cases of sarcoma (14%), 1 case of lipoma (4%), and 23 cases of myxoma (82%). The three cases in which the tumors were not completely excised were sarcomas. No operative deaths occurred after the operations. Outpatient follow-up was possible for 24 cases (86%), with a mean follow-up period of 46.8+/-42.7 months. Late death occurred in 3 of the 24 patients; each of these patients had sarcomas. Of these patients, the first had undergone two repeat surgeries, the second had metastatic sites removed, and the last had only chemotherapy. The average recurrence time was 12.7+/-10.8 months, and the average metastasis time was 20.5+/-16.8 months. CONCLUSION: Most cardiac tumors are benign myxomas. In principle, they should be surgically treated because they can create risks such as embolism, and can be radically treated when surgically removed. In most cases, however, malignant sarcomas are already considerably advanced with severe infiltration into the neighboring tissues at the time of diagnosis. The surgical removal of malignant sarcomas is known to be difficult because of the advanced stage and degree of infiltration. We suggest that excision of the removable portion of the tumor sites to alleviate symptoms such as heart failure can improve quality of life.
Aged ; Axis, Cervical Vertebra ; Biopsy ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Embolism ; Emergencies ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Heart Atria ; Heart Failure ; Heart Neoplasms ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Lipoma ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mitral Valve ; Myxoma ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Outpatients ; Prognosis ; Quality of Life ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sarcoma

Infection of both native and prosthetic vessels in the groin is a very serious disease because of recurrent arterial rupture and sepsis, which can cause death. The successful treatment of groin infection, including infection of the femoral artery, requires extensive excision of the infected tissues and restoration of the circulation where the infected area is isolated. Here we describe a case of obturator bypass in a patient with infected femoral artery rupture that occurred after extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for myocarditis and severe heart failure.
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation ; Femoral Artery ; Groin ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Myocarditis ; Rupture ; Sepsis

PURPOSE: In previous study, the frequency of osteoarthritis and discomfort were high in ankle fracture-dislocation but detail results about ankle fracture-dislocation has rarely been investigated. In this study, we retrospectively analyze the outcome of the operative treatment of ankle fracture with dislocation for over-2 years follow up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: There were 47 cases of ankle fracture-dislocation in our hospital from March 2007 to May 2010. We investigated 20 patients who underwent operation and were possible for over-2 years follow up. The result was estimated with the direction of dislocation, fracture type, the time of bone union and post-traumatic osteoarthritis with plain radiologic images. In clinical assessment, we statistically evaluated the function and pain through AOFAS score and Olerud & Molander scoring system. RESULTS: By Lauge-Hansen classification, there were 13 cases(65%) of pronation-external rotation and 6 cases(30%) of supination-external rotation, 1 case(5%) of supination-adduction. AOFAS score was 85.5, and Olerud & Molander score was"excellent" in 8 cases, "good" in 5 cases, "fair" in 3 cases and "poor" in 4 cases. Postoperative complications in 4 cases revealed post-traumatic arthritis. All kinds of lateral dislocation of ankle fracture was 15 cases and the most common. Of these, all 3 cases, anterolateral dislocation showed post-traumatic osteoarthritis. CONCLUSION: In ankle fracture-dislocation, post-traumatic osteoarthritis occurred in 4 of 20 patient(20%). Especially, the possibility of post-traumatic osteoarthritis was more in cases of anterolateral or lateral dislocation. So, it must be needed that deliberate examination, for example, preoperative MRI and sufficient explanation to patient. Also, we have to follow up the patients carefully.
Animals ; Ankle ; Arthritis ; Dislocations ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Osteoarthritis ; Postoperative Complications ; Retrospective Studies

There remains controversy regarding the appropriate surgical treatment for coarctation of the aorta because of relatively high rate of recoartation and high mortality in the cases associated with complex anomalies. We evaluated 31 consecutive patients who underwent surgical repair of coarctation of the aorta from May 1992 through June 1996. Nineteen patients(61.3%) were neonates and 26(83.9%) were under three months. Nine patients did not have major associated anomalies(Group I), 15 patients had ventricular septal defect(Group II), and 7 patients had major complex anomalies(Group III). 35.5% of the patients had arch hypoplasia. Surgical procedures performed were as follows: extended end-to-end anastomosis in 17 patients, combined resection-flap procedure in 7 patients, and subclavian flap aortoplasty in 7 patients. Residual coarctation occurred in 7(25%) of 28 patients; 2 after subclavian flap aortoplasty(2/6, 33.3%), none after combined resection-flap procedure(0/7, 0%)), and 5 after extended end-to-end anastomosis(5/15, 33.3%). Higher incidence of residual coarctation was noticed in the group with arch hypoplasia. The incidence of postoperative coarctation at a mean follow-up of 20.5 months in survivals was 12.0%(3/25); 2 cases after subclavian flap aortoplasty(2/6, 33.3%), none after combined resection-flap procedure(0/7, 0%), and one after end-to-end anastomosis(1/12, 8.3%). The mortality rate related to coarctation repair was 9.7%(3 patients, all in Group III). This study revealed that isolated coarctation of aorta and coarctation with ventricular septal defect(groups I and II) can be repaired with low mortality, but repair of coarctation with complex anomaly had a high operative mortality. Also the patients with arch hypoplasia had higher incidence of post-operative residual coarctation.
Aortic Coarctation* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Mortality

Anomalous origin of left coronary artery from pulmonary artery(ALCAPA) is a rare fatal congenital anormaly that needs early surgical intervention. Many reports say that the choice of operative procedure is reimplantation of the left coronary artery into the ascending aorta. We experienced the surgical management of a case of the ALCAPA. The patient was 44 days old and 3.45 kg weighed female baby who had a symptom of congestive heart failure. She underwent implantation of coronary artery on the aorta with cardiopulmonary bypass and recovered without any complications.
Aorta ; Bland White Garland Syndrome ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Coronary Vessels* ; Female ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Pulmonary Artery* ; Replantation ; Surgical Procedures, Operative

BACKGROUND: A composite valve graft replacement has been used for a variety of aortic root diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mid-term results of this technique. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We conducted a retrospective analysis of aortic root composite valve graft replacements in 39 patients and these procedures were done at our institution between 1992 and 2009. The mean age of the patients was 49.2+/-16.4 years. The mean follow-up was 64.2+/-53.4 months (maximum: 176 months). RESULT: There were 4 hospital deaths (8.6%) due to emergency aortic dissection and 4 late deaths owing to several causes. The causes of late death were 2 ruptures of a remnant aneurysm, 1 subdural hemorrhage and 1 paravalvular leakage. The calculated survival rate was 93.5%, 85.0% and 85.0% at 1, 5 and 10 years, respectively. There were 3 cerebrovascular accidents during the follow up period. The rate of freedom from cerebrovascular accidents was 97.0%, 92.0% and 80.0% at 1, 5 and 10 years, respectively. All of these brain accidents were hemorrhage-related complications. CONCLUSION: A composite valve graft replacement of the aortic root was associated with favorable results. So, this technique seems to be a good method to treat various aortic root diseases.
Aneurysm ; Aortic Diseases ; Brain ; Emergencies ; Follow-Up Studies ; Freedom ; Hematoma, Subdural ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Rupture ; Stroke ; Survival Rate ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: We performed a prospective clinical study to evaluate the ultrastructural integrity of the myocardium after using Histidine-Tryptophan-Ketoglutarate (HTK) solution in comparison with blood cardioplegic solution during congenital heart surgery. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Twenty two patients with acyanotic heart disease, who were scheduled for elective open heart surgery, were randomized into two groups. The HTK Group (n=11) received HTK cardioplegic solution; the blood group (n=11) received conventional blood cardioplegic solution during surgery. The preoperative diagnoses included ventricular septal defect (n=9) and atrial septal defect (n=2) in each group. A small biopsy specimen was taken from the right ventricle's myocardium, and this was processed for ultrastructural examination at the end of 30 minutes of reperfusion. Semiquantitative electron microscopy was carried out "blindly" in 4 areas per specimen and in 5 test fields per area by 'random systematic sampling' and 'point and intersection counting'. The morphology of the mitochondrial membrane and cristae were then scored. The interstitial edema of the myocardium was also graded. RESULT: The semiquantitative score of the mitochondrial morphology was 19.65+/-4.75 in the blood group and 25.25+/-5.85 in the HTK group (p=0.03). 6 patients (54.5%) in the blood group and 3 patients (27.3%) in the HTK group were grade 3 or more for the interstitial edema of the myocardium. CONCLUSION: The ultrastructural integrity was preserved even better with HTK solution than with conventional blood cardioplegic solution.
Biopsy ; Cardioplegic Solutions* ; Diagnosis ; Edema ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Diseases ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular ; Humans ; Microscopy, Electron ; Mitochondrial Membranes ; Myocardial Reperfusion ; Myocardium ; Prospective Studies* ; Reperfusion ; Thoracic Surgery

BACKGROUND: Diagnosing chronic pulmonary embolism at an early stage is difficult because of the patient's non-specific symptoms. This condition is not prevalent in Korea, and in fact, there have been only a few case reports on this in the Korean medical literature. We analyzed the surgical outcome of performing pulmonary thromboendarterectomy in patients with chronic pulmonary embolism. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study subjects included those patients who underwent surgery for chronic pulmonary embolism from 1996 to 2008. For making the diagnosis, echocardiography, chest CT and a pulmonary perfusion scan were performed on the patients who complained of chronic dyspnea. RESULT: Pulmonary endarterectomy was performed as follows: by incision via a mid-sternal approach (7 patients); by incision via a left posterolateral approach (1 patient); using the deep hypothermic circulatory arrest technique (4 patients); under ventricular fibrillation (3 patients); and under cardioplegic arrest (1 patient). The postoperative systolic pulmonary artery blood pressure significantly decreased from a preoperative value of 78.9+/-14.5 mmHg to 45.6+/-17.6 mmHg postoperatively (p=0.000). The degree of tricuspid regurgitation was less than grade II after surgery. Two patients died early on, including one patient who had persistent pulmonary hypertension without improvement and right heart failure. CONCLUSION: Patients who have chronic pulmonary embolism are known to have a poor prognosis. However, we think that early surgical treatment along with making the proper diagnosis before the aggravation of right heart failure can help improve the quality of a patient's life.
Blood Pressure ; Circulatory Arrest, Deep Hypothermia Induced ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Endarterectomy ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Korea ; Perfusion ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Artery ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Thorax ; Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency ; Ventricular Fibrillation

In the treatment of myasthenia gravis, thymectomy is generally accepted as the standard of therapy. For thymectomy, there have been various conventional open approaches including sternal splitting, but recently minimally invasive approaches have been increasingly applied. A 28-year-old man presenting with weakness of both hands and fatigability was diagnosed as having myasthenia gravis with thymic hyperplasia. He underwent a robot-assisted thymectomy with the 'da Vinci' surgical system. Through the right thoracic cavity, two thirds of the thymic gland was dissected, and the remainder was resected through the left; these procedures took, respectively, 1 hour and 30 minutes. The patient was discharged on the 8th postoperative day without complications. The minimally invasive approach with the 'da Vinci' surgical system is emerging as a popular choice and various advantages have been reported. Here we report the first successful case of robot-assisted thymectomy.
Adult ; Hand ; Humans ; Myasthenia Gravis ; Robotics ; Thoracic Cavity ; Thymectomy ; Thymus Hyperplasia