BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive cardiac surgery has emerged as a new approach to the conventional median sternotomy. The suggested advantages of the minimally invasive technique includes improved cosmesis, simplicity of opening and closing the chest, less postoperative pain, less risk of infection and bleeding, early rehabilitation, and reduced length of hospital stay. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between March 1997 and December 1997, we performed 36 cases of minimally invasive cardiac surgery via three different approaches ; right paramedian, transverse sternotomy and mini-sternotomy with upper sternal split. RESULT: There was no operative mortality. Postoperative complications were atrial fibrillation in 4 patients, bleeding that required reoperation in 1 patient, and delayed wound closure in 1 patient who underwent 3rd redo operation. Average length of skin incision was 9.1+/-0.9 cm. Average duration of stay in the intensive care unit was 48+/-29 hours and the patients were discharged 10+/-7 days after the operation. CONCLUSION: In spite of the difficulties in defibrillation, deairing, and cardiac decompensation, minimally invasive approaches will be applied increasingly because of the suggested advantages.
Atrial Fibrillation ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Pain, Postoperative ; Postoperative Complications ; Rehabilitation ; Reoperation ; Skin ; Sternotomy ; Surgical Procedures, Minimally Invasive ; Thoracic Surgery* ; Thorax ; Wounds and Injuries

BACKGROUND: Left main coronary artery (LMCA) angioplasty is another option in the surgical treatment for LMCA disease because of its advantages over the conventional coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). MATERIAL AND METHOD: Between July 1994 and December 1997, 15 patients underwent left main coronary angioplasty for the stenoses of LMCA. There were 8 males and 7 females with the mean age of 53.3+/-8.8 years. The locations of the LMCA stenoses were proximal one-third of the LMCA in 9, middle one-third in 1, distal one-third in 3, and the whole length of the LMCA in 2 cases. Nine patients had peripheral coronary lesions in addition to the LMCA stenosis. The LMCA was approached anteriorly with or without transsection of the main pulmonary artery. The angioplasty was performed with onlay patch widening using an autologous pericardium (14 cases) or saphenous vein (1 case). Additional graftings were required in 9 cases, and both LMCA angioplasty and right coronary ostial angioplasty were done in 1 case. RESULT: There was no operative mortality. One case needed redo CABG due to the stenosis of the angioplasty site which developed 4 months postoperatively. Coronary angiography was performed in 8 cases one year postoperatively, and revealed good patency of the angioplasty site except for one who showed 50% stenosis at the angioplasty site. No patient complained of angina with a mean follow up of 23+/-11 months. CONCLUSION: Surgical angioplasty of the LMCA stenosis can be performed in selected cases with safety and good mid-term results.
Angioplasty* ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Stenosis* ; Coronary Vessels* ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Inlays ; Male ; Mortality ; Pericardium ; Pulmonary Artery ; Saphenous Vein ; Transplants

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) colonization and the grade of gastritis in the antrum and in the body of patients with duodenal ulcer (DU) or benign gastric ulcer (BGU). METHODS: This study was performed in H. pylori-positive 220 DU patients and 180 BGU patients. H. pylori density was evaluated by modified Giemsa staining and CLO test, and gastritis grade was graded by H+ACY-E staining in the antrum and in the body. RESULTS: H. pylori grade by Giemsa staining was 1.24 in the antrum and 0.82 in the body for DU group (p +ADw- 0.01), and those of BGU group were slightly reversed, 0.83 and 0.87, respectively, but without statistical significance. Similarly H. pylori grade by CLO test was 3.1 in the antrum and 2.8 in the body for DU group (p +ADw- 0.01), and those of BGU group 2.3 and 2.6 (p +ADw- 0.05), respectively. In contrast, gastritis grade was 1.7 in the antrum and 1.2 in the body for DU group (p +ADw- 0.01), and those of BGU group 1.6 and 1.3 (p +ADw- 0.01), respectively, similar to those of DU. However, there was a correlation between H. pylori grade and gastritis grade in the antrum and in the body, not only in DU but also in BGU group (p +ADw- 0.01). CONCLUSION: In spite of different distribution patterns of H. pylori between DU group and BGU group, gastritis grade of the antrum was significantly higher than that of the body in both DU and BGU. However, gastritis is correlated with H. pylori density not only in DU but also in BGU patients. It looks like the inflammatory reaction to H. pylori is stronger in the antrum than in the body.
Adult ; Aged ; Colony Count, Microbial ; Comparative Study ; Duodenal Ulcer/pathology+ACo- ; Duodenal Ulcer/microbiology ; Female ; Gastric Fundus/pathology ; Gastric Fundus/microbiology ; Gastritis/pathology+ACo- ; Gastritis/microbiology+ACo- ; Helicobacter Infections/pathology ; Helicobacter Infections/diagnosis+ACo- ; Helicobacter pylori/isolation +ACY- purification+ACo- ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Probability ; Pyloric Antrum/pathology ; Pyloric Antrum/microbiology ; Severity of Illness Index ; Stomach Ulcer/pathology+ACo- ; Stomach Ulcer/microbiology

A 48 year old man, has been suffering from a growing chondrosarcoma of sternum which has deeply invading the anterior mediastinum. He underwent wide resection of the chest wall tumor including a 4 cm free margin of normal tissue on all portions. The tumor was 15 X 16 X 10 cm in size arising from sternum and include both proximal one third of the clavicle and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd costal cartilages. The resected skeletal defect in the anterior wall was very large after wide resection of the tumor and reconstructed due to paradoxical chest wall movement with sandwich like method of double over lapping Marlex mesh and methylmethacreylate, and steel wires. The soft tissue reconstructive procedure was done with myocutaneous flap transposition use of pectoralis muscle. But the patient go infected with tuberculosis in the mediastinum two months after the operation. We had removed all of previously inserted prosthetics and performed curettage and drainage. Recently we experienced a case with giant chondrosarcoma of the sternum associated with tuberculous mediastinitis. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course and was discharged with adjuvant treatment such as antituberculous medication for 1 year.
Cartilage ; Chondrosarcoma* ; Clavicle ; Curettage ; Drainage ; Humans ; Mediastinitis* ; Mediastinum ; Middle Aged ; Myocutaneous Flap ; Pectoralis Muscles ; Polypropylenes ; Steel ; Sternum ; Thoracic Wall* ; Thorax* ; Tuberculosis

The chest wall deformity associated with Poland's syndrome is a very rare anomaly which consists of congenital unilateral absence of the sternal head of the pectoralis major muscle and various abnormalities of the upper extremity. Other clinical features associated with Poland's syndrome include deficiency or absence of the breast and nipple, deficiency of subcutaneous fat and axillary hair, and abnormalities of costal cartilages and anterior ends of ribs. The origin remains uncertain, but is considered not to be hereditary. Poland's syndrome may pose a serious psychologic and cosmetic problem, early recognition and surgical correction may prove beneficial. A 37 year old patient with Poland's syndrome was encountered and underwent satisfactory surgical correction.
Adult ; Breast ; Cartilage ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Hair ; Head ; Humans ; Nipples ; Poland Syndrome* ; Poland* ; Ribs ; Subcutaneous Fat ; Thoracic Wall ; Upper Extremity

PURPOSE: Acute acetaminophen intoxication is a common occurrence that can cause lethal complications. In most domestic emergency departments, clinicians tend to treat acetaminophen intoxication based on patients' history alone, simply due to the lack of a rapid acetaminophen laboratory test. We performed a 20-month study of intoxication patients to determine the correlation between the history of patients and serum laboratory tests for acetaminophen. METHODS: We took blood samples from 280 intoxication patients to evaluate whether laboratory findings detected traces of acetaminophen in the sample. Patients were then treated according to their history. Laboratory results came out after patients'discharge. Agreement between patients' history and laboratory results were analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 280 intoxicated patients enrolled, 38 patients had positive serum acetaminophen concentrations; 18 out of 38 patients did not represent a history suggesting acetaminophen intoxication. One patient without the history showed toxic serum acetaminophen concentration. Among the patients with the history, two patients with toxic serum acetaminophen concentration did not receive N-acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment due to their low reported doses, while other 2 patients without significant serum acetaminophen concentration did receive NAC treatment due to their high reported doses. CONCLUSION: This study showed a good overall agreement between history and laboratory test results. However, some cases showed inconsistencies between their history and laboratory test results. Therefore, in treating intoxication patients, a laboratory test of acetaminophen with rapid results should be available in most domestic emergency departments.
Acetaminophen* ; Acetylcysteine ; Diagnosis ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary sequestration is not common and it's diagnosis needs special care such as an aortogram ar tomography. MATERIAL AND METHOD: We have experienced 13 patients who had pulmonary sequestration from January 1990 to September 1997. RESULT: Six men and seven women were treated and their mean age was 25.8+/-14.3 years. Their chief complaints were coughing, chest pain, and no symptoms in decreasing order. There were nine intralobar (ILS) and three extralobar (ELS) pulmonary sequestrations and one patient had both. There was no preference in location of either left or right. They were mainly diagnosed by aortography and their feeding arteries commonly originated from the lower thoracic aorta. The patients with ILS were treated by lobectomy and those with ELS by sequestrectomy. CONCLUSION: to treat pulmonary sequestration properhy, aortogram or chest CT is warranted to iidenty the abnormal origin of feeding artery.
Aorta, Thoracic ; Aortography ; Arteries ; Bronchopulmonary Sequestration* ; Chest Pain ; Cough ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

In 1964, Abbott and Colleagues published the world's first heterotopic heart transplantation technique in the rat. Their method established circulation by end-to-end anastomoses of the graft's aorta and pulmonary artery to the recipient's abdominal aorta and Inferior Vena Cava (IVC), respectively. In 1966, Tomita et al altered Abbott's technique by employing end-to-side rather than end-to-end anastomoses, thus eliminating the hind leg paralysis that sometimes resulted from Abbott's technique. In order to prevent postsuture hemorrhage (since 7-0 silk suture was the finest available at that time), Tomita's aortic anastomosis was done with double up-and-down continuous suture technique. A single layer continuous anstomosis effected the pulmonary artery-IVC anastomosis. The availability of Nylon monofilament suture made it possible for Ono and Lindsey to use a single layer suture technique for the aortic end-to-side anastomosis in their modified rat heart transplantation. We observed survival time between control group and Immunosuppression (Cyclosporine administration, 10mg/Kgx4 times postoperatively) group after heterotopic heart transplantation in the rat model. The cyclosporine adminstration group survived longer than the control group, thus we concluded that cyclosporine was based on Immunosuppressive drugs.
Allografts ; Animals ; Aorta ; Aorta, Abdominal ; Cyclosporine ; Heart Transplantation* ; Heart* ; Hemorrhage ; Immunosuppression ; Leg ; Models, Animal* ; Nylons ; Paralysis ; Pulmonary Artery ; Rats* ; Silk ; Suture Techniques ; Sutures ; Vena Cava, Inferior

Mediastinal teratoma is a tumor that thoracic surgeons made an operation much less commonly than other mediastinal masses and most of them are asymptomatic. But very rarely, this tumor invades the pleura and pericardium resulting in pleural effusion, pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade in severe cases. The mechanism of invasion and perforation of the tumor is unknown and tumor-consisting tissue factor is suspected of a cause. In this case, we operated on a patient whose anterior mediastinal teratoma invaded and perforated pericardium and pleura resulting in pericardial effusion and pleural effusion. The patient was improved and discharged with no problem after resection of mass and involved pericardium.
Cardiac Tamponade ; Humans ; Mediastinal Neoplasms ; Pericardial Effusion* ; Pericardium ; Pleura ; Pleural Effusion ; Teratoma* ; Thromboplastin

Hemoptysis occurs quite frequently as a consequence of mitral stenosis, but massive, lirE threatening pulmonary hemorrhage is distinctly unusual. We report a 30 year old female who underwent cmcrgcncy rcdo double valve replacement for intractable pulmonary hemorrhage. she underwent mitral valve replacement (lonescu Shirley 27 mm) due to rheumatic valvular heart disease in 1984 and tricuspid valve annuloplasty (Carpentier's ring 30mm) two years later She was admitted for massive hcmoptysis and dyspnea on the 26th of December, 1995. Medical treatment including transarterial embolization was given but was not satisfactory. Emergency valve replacement (Mitral valve, St. Judc 29mm and tricuspid valve ; St. Jude 33mm) was performed and hemoptysis was controlled dramatically 24 hours after surgery.
Adult ; Dyspnea ; Emergencies* ; Female ; Heart Valve Diseases* ; Hemoptysis* ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Mitral Valve ; Mitral Valve Stenosis ; Tricuspid Valve