A 38-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for treatment of infective endocarditis associated with abscesses in the brain and the left lower limb. A causative organism had not been detected by serial blood cultures. Preoperative brain CT revealed mycotic aneurysms and echocardiography showed a mobile vegetation (8mm in size) on the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve. We performed resection of the vegetation together with a small triangle of the anterior leaflet, after which the margins of the defect were approximated. Then bilateral Kay procedures and reinforcement with autologous pericardium were done to obtain proper coaptation. The patient's fever, left lower limb pain, and intracerebral mycotic aneurysms resolved after surgery. The brain abscess also became smaller. Mitral valve plasty should sometimes be considered in the active phase of endocarditis, even in patients with cerebral complications and without congestive heart failure.

A study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and hemodynamic performance of the 19-mm Medtronic Mosaic Valve (MMV) in the aortic position, which is a third-generation stented porcine bioprosthesis. Between 2003 and 2006, 9 patients underwent AVR using the 19-mm MMV. None of the patients were suitable for a 19-mm Perimount bioprosthetic valve due to having a small annulus and sinotubular junction. The patients included 3 men and 6 women with a mean age of 73.2±4.97 years and mean body surface area of 1.35±0.11m². Preoperatively, 8 patients were in New York Heart Association class II and 1 was in class III. The reason for surgery was aortic stenosis in 8 patients and aortic regurgitation due to infective endocarditis in 1 patient. Four patients had chronic renal failure and were on hemodialysis, while 1 patient had Crohn's disease. Concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting was performed in 3 patients, and tricuspid valve annuloplasty was done in 1 patient. The follow-up period was 12.0±7.71 months. No deaths occurred, but there was 1 cerebral infarction. Postoperatively, the peak pressure gradient decreased from 81.3±32.7 to 40.3±16.3mmHg (p<0.01). The mean pressure gradient also decreased significantly from 48.8±11.6mmHg to 23.9±9.32mmHg (p<0.01). Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter was 47.9±3.82mm preoperatively and 45.1±7.53mm postoperatively, showing no significant change. The left ventricular mass index also improved from 217.3±46.9 to 160±54.9g/m² (p<0.05). The ejection fraction was 72.0±8.93% preoperatively and 67.6±6.37% postoperatively, showing no difference. Although the postoperative indexed effective orifice area (EOAI) was 0.90±0.11cm²/m², mild patient-prosthesis mismatch (EOAI 0.77cm²/m²) was noted in 1 patient. In conclusion, the early clinical and hemodynamic performance of the 19-mm MMV in small elderly patients was acceptable.

　　Case 1: A woman in her 70s was carried into emergency department of our hospital. Apparently she had dyspnea. Acute pulmonary heart was suspected. Electrocardiography S I Q III T III-pattern. The patient was diagnosed with popliteal vein vascular aneurysm by ultrasonography. Case 2: A man in his 60s, was referred to our hospital for treatment of lower extremity swelling and pain. Like Case 1, the male patient was suspected of having deep vein thrombosis and femoral artery aneurysms by ultrasound inspection and also diagnosed with pulmonary thromboembolism based on CT findings. We were able to rescue these two patients by rapid medical cooperation. Ultrasonography was particularly useful for diagnosis and morphological evaluation of blood vessels.

We present a case of Marfan's syndrome with acute aortic dissection during the trimester of her pregnancy, who underwent a Bentall operation 2 days after emergency cesarean section. A 24-year-old woman during the 31st week of pregnancy visited our emergency room due to sudden onset of chest and back pain, though she had no abnormality until this event. Because of her tall height, spider fingers, positive wrist sign, visual disorder and scoliosis, she was given a diagnosis of Marfan's syndrome. Enhanced CT and cardiac ultrasonography revealed that she was suffering from acute aortic dissection with annulo-aortic ectasia. Since it was difficult for her to continue with her pregnancy, she underwent emergency cesarean section and gave birth to a male baby weighted 1, 706g. Although there was little likelifood of early thrombus formation in the false lumen or significant aortic regurgitation indicating an emergency operation, fear of massive bleeding from her uterus and the exfoliated surface of the placenta after cesarean section required an observation period of 2 days. We performed a Bentall operation successfully after careful sedation, ventilation and blood pressure control for 2 days.

Protein C (PC) deficiency is an inherited thrombotic disorder with a prevalence of 0.19% among the general population. PC deficiency is associated with an increased risk of thrombosis when other risk factors are present, such as trauma, surgery, or infection, and is an important cause of mechanical valve thrombosis. We performed tricuspid valve replacement with a 29mm Carpentier-Edwards Perimount valve in a 20-year-old man with PC deficiency. The patient had corrected transposition of the great vessels with severe tricuspid insufficiency, as well as a history of cerebral infarction. In the perioperative period, we used only heparin sodium as the anticoagulant. When we restarted administration of warfarin, changing over from heparin, transient increases of serum plasmin inhibitor-plasmin complex (PIC) and thrombin antithrombin complex (TAT) levels were observed. Despite an increased dose of heparin, an appropriate activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) was not obtained. This suggested a hypercoagulatory state, but the postoperative course was uneventful. Management of perioperative anticoagulation, prevention of late thrombotic events, and prosthetic valve selection in this particular situation are discussed.

A 30-year-old woman who had no specific symptom was diagnosed with Turner syndrome at the age of 6 years. Subsequently, she was followed up at a hospital. However, she stopped going to the hospital when she was 18 years old. At 30 years of age, she underwent examinations involving echocardiography and enhanced chest CT at a hospital, which revealed severe aortic valve regurgitation and extreme dilatation of the aortic root. We performed the Bentall procedure through a median sternotomy following which she had an uncomplicated postoperative course. Aortic root enlargement increases the risk of aortic dissection in patients with Turner syndrome. However, no aortic events occurred before the surgery in this case. We considered the reason was related to the mosaic karyotype of this case.

Controlled Freezing-point Storage (CF Storage) is a new method of preserving foods in minus non-frozen temperature range. So, we tried to apply this method to entrails preservation and investigated the effect of controlled freezing-point storage of hearts on ventricular function in isolated perfused rat heart (male, Sprague dawley strain, in body about 300g weight). The hearts were perfused by working heart mode for 10min, and received infusion of cardioplegic solution which was followed by 4 hours of cardiac arrest at a myocardial temperature 4°C (4°C group) or minus non-frozen temperature (CF storage group). Then, the aerobic reperfusion by working heart mode was continued for an additional 30min. The recovery rate of cardiac output was 33.5% and 62.5% respectively of the preischemic value in 4°C group and CF storage group, which was statistically significant (p<0.01). ATP activity after 4 hours of cardiac arrest in 4°C group was significantly lower than that in CF storage group (p<0.05). These data suggest that CF storage of hearts might have a protective effect against an ischemic insult upon myocardial cell during hypothermic cardiac arrest.

Renal damage caused by hemolysis during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was investigated, and the preventive effects of haptoglobin in regard to this condition was also evaluated. Nineteen patients who underwent open heart surgery were divided into two groups: a control group (n=11) and a haptoglobin group (n=8). In the control group, the level of plasma-free hemoglobin increased significantly after CPB (p<0.01), and this level was strongly correlated with renal tubular leaking enzymes: NAG (r=0.76) and γ-GTP (r=0.81), in the Intensive Care Unit or on the first day after surgery. On the contrary, in the haptoglobin group, in which 4, 000 units of haptoglobin was added in the priming solution of CPB, no increased level of plasma free hemoglobin was observed. Furthermore, leak age of renal tubular enzymes were statistically less (p<0.05). It was concluded that free hemoglobin was a cause of renal damage during CPB and the damage was preventable by the administration of haptoglobin.

Coronary artery fistula is an unusual congenital anomaly, particularly in association with coronary aneurysm. In the present case, a right coronary fistula leading to the right atrium was associated with a giant coronary aneurysm. There have only been 3 such cases reported in the literature. Since both the aneurysm and the fistula were completely thrombosed, no heart murmur was detected and the patient was initially diagnosed as having an intracardiac tumor by echocardiography.

Perivalvular leakage (PVL) is one of the serious complications of mitral valve replacement. Between 1991 and 2006, 9 patients with mitral PVL underwent reoperation. All of them had severe hemolytic anemia before surgery. The serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) level decreased from 2,366±780 IU/l to 599±426 IU/l after surgery. The site of PVL was accurately defined in 7 patients by echocardiography. PVL occurred around the posterior annulus in 3 patients, anterior annulus in 2, anterolateral commissure in 1, and posteromedial commissure in 1. The most frequent cause of PVL was annular calcification in 5 patients. Infection was only noted in 1 patient. In 4 patients, the prosthesis was replaced, while the leak was repaired in 5 patients. There was one operative death, due to multiple organ failure, and 4 late deaths. The cause of late death was cerebral infarction in 1 patient, subarachnoid hemorrhage in 1, sudden death in 1, and congestive heart failure (due to persistent PVL) in 1. Reoperation for PVL due to extensive annular calcification is associated with a high mortality rate and high recurrence rate, making this procedure both challenging and frustrating for surgeons.