A 44-year-old man was injured by concreate boards falling on the left side of his body, and he was transferred to our hospital on suspicion of a blunt traumatic aortic injury. The contrast-enhanced CT axial scan showed the abnormal alignment of the brachiocephalic artery and a mediastinal hematoma. However, a 3D-CT image showed a pseudoaneurysm in the aortic arch between the brachiocephalic and left common carotid arteries. Immediately, partial arch replacement was performed. A 20 mm disruption was detected on the intimal surface of the arch aorta between the brachiocephalic and left common carotid arteries. This case was a very rare condition of blunt traumatic aortic injury.

Objective: A few cases of an aseptic abscess after thoracic aortic surgery have been reported. However, it sometimes requires surgical treatment because the rapid growth of perigraft fluid collection results in exposure towards the body surface. We discuss the results of our treatment of these cases. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis. Four of 341 cases who underwent thoracic aortic surgery between April 2013 and March 2020 were included. These cases presented with a bulge of the body surface 10.3 (range, 3-27) months after surgery. Results: Although the fluids looked purulent in all cases, no bacteria were detected. We diagnosed them as aseptic abscess, for which omental implantation was performed. No signs of recurrence have been found in any cases even after 5.4 (range, 1-8.5) years. Conclusions: Omental implantation was effective for controlling aseptic abscess for long-term periods.

A 47-year-old man had severe mitral regurgitation after severe skin eruption, so mitral valve replacement was electively performed 8 months later. A median sternal wound opened spontaneously and had purulent exudate on the 5th postoperative day (5 POD). We had suspicion of bacterial mediastinitis, so we drained the anterior mediastinum and tried antibiotic treatment. However, the microbiological stains and culture were negative, and adipose tissue was extremely melted with pustules around the wound. Considering other diseases without infection, we consulted to a dermatologist and tried highdose steroid therapy as pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) appeared on the 8 POD. Meanwhile, the sternum was left open and apllied a negative pressure dressing applied with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT). The wound responded remarkably to steroid therapy, so we closed the sternum on the 10 POD, and sutured the sternal wound on the 19 POD. We tapered off steroids after the suture. PG can be caused by the trauma of surgery, so we have to make a decision on whether to use high dose steroid therapy in the postoperative period. We report this case as one of the differential diseases that the surgeons must know.