An 60-year-old man who initially presented with ventricular tachycardia was suspected of cardiac tumor because of localised hypertrophy of the right ventricle. Although the localized region detected by an echocardiography suggested malignancy, percutaneous transcatheter myocardial biopsy failed to obtain a histological diagnosis. Six months later, a permanent pace maker was implanted due to complete AV block. Two years after the first admission, echocardiogram and computed tomography demonstrated a cardiac tumor in the right ventricle. To obtain a histological diagnosis, open biopsy was performed under median sternotomy and showed malignant lymphoma. Antemortem diagnosis of cardiac malignancy is usually very difficult. Median sternotomy is an established procedure for cardiovascular surgeons. Open biopsy can be an acceptable technique to obtain histological diagnosis of the neoplastic region in terms of safety and simplicity, and has good sampling accuracy compared with other diagnostic modalities. We recommend early stage surgical exploration when cardiac malignancy is a diagnostic possibility.

We report a case of rupture of the thoracic descending aorta due to blunt chest trauma. An 18-year-old man was transferred to our hospital after a car accident. He was in a state of shock. The admission chest X-ray film demonstrated mediastinal widening and blurring of the aortic arch. Chest and abdominal helical CT scan showed left hemothorax, pseudoaneurysm, and hematoma of the cervix, mediastinum, and retroperitoneal space. We diagnosed rupture of the thoracic descending aorta without other injuries. An emergency operation was performed under partial cardiopulmonary bypass with systemic heparinization. The descending aorta had completely lost its continuity. Graft replacement was performed with a collagen-sealed woven Dacron graft. The postoperative course was uneventful. We suggest that high awareness and a systematic approach are needed to diagnose traumatic aortic rupture, and that enhanced helical CT scanning is helpful for diagnosis and management strategy.

A 72-year-old woman complaining of lumbago was transferred to our hospital in a state of shock. An admission abdominal CT scan showed infrarenal aortic aneurysm reaching 8cm in maximal diameter and hematoma of the retroperitoneal space. A clinical diagnosis of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm was rapidly established. An emergency operation was performed under general anesthesia. Laparotomy disclosed an infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm and hematoma. The aorta was clamped just below the bilateral renal arteries. Straight graft replacement was performed. There was enough heparinization during the surgical procedure. Postoperative findings involved paraplegia and hypoesthesia from dermatome Th 10 with associated urinary and fecal incontinence. The patient was discharged from our hospital. Spinal cord ischemia is a rare and unpredictable complication in surgery of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. Presence of intra- and postoperative episodes of hypotension and the duration of the crossclamping seem to have been the most important factors for spinal cord ischemia in this case.

Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is the second most common type of benign cardiac tumor after myxoma, and is most commonly found in the left side of the heart. In this study, we report a case of PFE located in the tricuspid valve chordae. The patient was a 65-year-old woman in whom a heart murmur was detected during a routine medical examination. A follow-up examination identified a cardiac tumor, and she was subsequently referred to our medical department. Echocardiography and contrast-enhanced computed tomography indicated a mobile mass of approximately 1 cm in the right ventricle, and she was determined to be a candidate for surgery. After cardiopulmonary bypass, we instigated cardioplegic arrest, made an incision in the right atrium, and observed the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve. We observed a yellowish sea-anemone-like mass approximately 9 mm from the chordae of the anterior leaflet of the tricuspid valve. Thus, the mass was resected with the chordae and tricuspid annuloplasty. Postoperative progress was satisfactory, and the subject was discharged on the 19th day of hospitalization. Histopathological examination indicated a mixture of thick fibrous and adipose tissues, which led to the diagnosis of PFE. PFE is a relatively rare disease that comprises 8% of primary cardiac tumors. IA often occurs in the left heart and can cause cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, and other symptoms of embolism. However, because small masses and those that occur in the right heart are not accompanied by clinical symptoms, such cases are often discovered during routine echocardiography. The present study reports a case of PFE that occurred in the tricuspid valve chordae that was diagnosed via echocardiography.

Background/Aims: Application of polyglycolic acid (PGA) sheets using fibrin glue in post-endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) ulcers to prevent bleeding has been reported to be difficult with the conventional delivery method because of gravity. This study assessed the usefulness of the envelope-based delivery system with and against gravity in living pigs. Methods: PGA sheets were applied on post-ESD ulcers with and against gravity six times each using the conventional and envelope methods, respectively. The PGA sheet delivery time and the endoscopic and histological findings of the treated ulcer floors were compared. Results: With gravity, the median PGA sheet application time was 1.00 (0.68–1.30) min/cm2 and 0.32 (0.18–0.52) min/cm2 with the conventional and envelope techniques (p=0.002), respectively, and against gravity, it was 1.20 (1.13–1.63) min/cm2 and 0.50 (0.39–0.58) min/cm2 (p=0.002), respectively. Against gravity, the endoscopic and histological findings revealed that the conventional group had insufficient fixation of the PGA sheets, but the envelope groups had sufficient fixation. The results with gravity were similar between the groups. Conclusions The envelope method makes it possible to deliver PGA sheets to the stomach quickly and cover ulcers appropriately both with and against gravity in living pigs.

Background/Aims: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for diverticulum-associated colorectal lesions is generally contraindicated because of the high risk of perforation. Several studies on patients with such lesions treated with ESD have been reported recently. However, the feasibility and safety of ESD for lesions in proximity to a colonic diverticulum (D-ESD) have not been fully clarified. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and safety of D-ESD. Methods: D-ESD was defined as ESD for lesions within approximately 3 mm of a diverticulum. Twenty-six consecutive patients who underwent D-ESD were included. Two strategic approaches were used depending on whether submucosal dissection of the diverticulum-related part was required (strategy B) or not (strategy A). Treatment outcomes and adverse events associated with each strategy were analyzed. Results: The en bloc resection rate was 96.2%. The rates of R0 and curative resection in strategies A and B were 80.8%, 73.1%, 84.6%, and 70.6%, respectively. Two cases of intraoperative perforation and one case of delayed perforation occurred. The delayed perforation case required emergency surgery, but the other cases were managed conservatively. Conclusions D-ESD may be a feasible treatment option. However, it should be performed in a high-volume center by expert hands because it requires highly skilled endoscopic techniques.

A 79-year-old woman with left hemiplegia and loss of consciousness was transferred to a previous hospital. She underwent a CT-scan of the aorta and CT-perfusion of the brain and was diagnosed with Stanford type A acute aortic dissection complicated with cerebral malperfusion with narrowing of the right carotid artery region. She was transferred to our hospital and underwent emergency ascending aorta replacement. Preoperative CT perfusion findings predicted improvement of neurological symptoms after aortic repair, and she had no neurological complications postoperatively.

A 60-year-old man underwent open surgery for chronic dissecting abdominal aorta accompanied with a horseshoe kidney. Through open laparotomy, the abdominal aortic aneurysm was exposed without revision of the horseshoe kidney. Cold ringer solution was infused to accessory renal arteries for renal protection. After supra-renal clamping, proximal anastomosis was then performed at the level just below the renal arteries. Abdominal cross clamp time at the level of the supra-renal arteries was 23 min. Median and right accessory arteries were reattached with an ischemic time of 73 and 103 min, respectively. Although serum creatine was elevated a preoperative level of 1.17 mg/dl to 3.63 mg/dl at postoperative day 2, that was gradually decreased to nearly preoperative level of 1.25 mg/dl at discharge. Postoperative enhanced CT demonstrated patency of the reattached accessory arteries. The patient was discharged without major complication on postoperative day 21. One year postoperatively, his follow-up course was uneventful without deterioration of renal function.

Background: and Purpose Recent studies suggested an increased incidence of cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We evaluated the volume of CVT hospitalization and in-hospital mortality during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the preceding year. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional retrospective study of 171 stroke centers from 49 countries. We recorded COVID-19 admission volumes, CVT hospitalization, and CVT in-hospital mortality from January 1, 2019, to May 31, 2021. CVT diagnoses were identified by International Classification of Disease-10 (ICD-10) codes or stroke databases. We additionally sought to compare the same metrics in the first 5 months of 2021 compared to the corresponding months in 2019 and 2020 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04934020). Results: There were 2,313 CVT admissions across the 1-year pre-pandemic (2019) and pandemic year (2020); no differences in CVT volume or CVT mortality were observed. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT volumes compared to 2019 (27.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 24.2 to 32.0; P<0.0001) and 2020 (41.4%; 95% CI, 37.0 to 46.0; P<0.0001). A COVID-19 diagnosis was present in 7.6% (132/1,738) of CVT hospitalizations. CVT was present in 0.04% (103/292,080) of COVID-19 hospitalizations. During the first pandemic year, CVT mortality was higher in patients who were COVID positive compared to COVID negative patients (8/53 [15.0%] vs. 41/910 [4.5%], P=0.004). There was an increase in CVT mortality during the first 5 months of pandemic years 2020 and 2021 compared to the first 5 months of the pre-pandemic year 2019 (2019 vs. 2020: 2.26% vs. 4.74%, P=0.05; 2019 vs. 2021: 2.26% vs. 4.99%, P=0.03). In the first 5 months of 2021, there were 26 cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), resulting in six deaths. Conclusions During the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic, CVT hospitalization volume and CVT in-hospital mortality did not change compared to the prior year. COVID-19 diagnosis was associated with higher CVT in-hospital mortality. During the first 5 months of 2021, there was an increase in CVT hospitalization volume and increase in CVT-related mortality, partially attributable to VITT.