A 44-year-old woman with Marfan's syndrome presented complaining of severe back pain. Angiography revealed annulo aortic ectasia, aortic regurgitation, acute aoric dissection (DeBakey IIIb) and distal aortic arch aneurysm. One month after admission, she underwent cardiopulmonary bypass was established through the femoral artery, the superior and inferior vena cava. The heart was arrested by aortic cross clamping and retrograde cold (20°C) cardioplegia. At first, a modified Bentall's procedure was done in addition to a Carrel patch procedure. After this procedure, the heart was perfused continuously (300ml/min) with warm (37°C) blood until the end of the cardiopulmonary bypass. The heart recovered a sinus rhythm spontaneously. Subsequently, aortic arch replacement and the elephant trunk method was done with the aid of deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest. The patients is well 1 year after the operation. This technique is useful for patients who require prolonged aortic cross clamping time.

Periannular abscess and mycotic aneurysm due to infective endocarditis are very difficult conditions to treat surgically. Beginning in 1983, we introduced a translocation technique on 9 such cases. In particular, 7 patients who underwent a new sutureless translocation technique all showed an uneventful course and were discharged. There was no hospital death, but four patients died in the late period (2 heart failure, 1 ventricular tachycardia and 1 thrombotic valve). The sutureless translocation method consists of insertion of a composite valve into the ascending aorta (a ring was detached from an intraluminal ringed graft and a prosthetic valve was sutured to it at that point) and coronary artery bypass grafting to the right and left coronary arteries. Our new technique was simple, required only a short aortic clamping time (mean 173.9min) and there was no significant bleeding. This new translocation technique provides a solution for the treatment of periannular abscess and mycotic aneurysm due to infective endocarditis.

This report describes 5 patients in whom extensive graft replacement was performed using a combination of median sternotomy with antero- or postero-lateral thoracotomy: 3 of them received replacement from the ascending to the descending thoracic aorta through the transverse aortic arch, and 2 of them received replacement from the transverse aortic arch to the descending thoracic aorta. Four of the 5 patients had catastrophic pulmonary bleeding during surgery and died immediately after the surgery. Histological investigations on 3 of the 5 patients revealed the presence of bleeding in bilateral alveola; edema in the pulmonary parenchymal tissues; and heavy bleeding extensively in the lung which was especially intensive in the pulmonary hilum and caused necrosis of that region in one case. We presume that long periods of total heparinization (extracorporeal circulation time>240min) performed during lateral thoracotomy, were the most important cause of the pulmonary bleeding. Other factors that could cause pulmonary bleeding are (i) avoidance of use of a double lumen endotracheal tube, (ii) pulmonary congestion due to heart failure during surgery, and (iii) pulmonary injury caused by surgical manipulation. We therefore consider that extensive graft replacement of the thoracic aorta through lateral thoracotomy using a pump-oxygenator, is associated with a high risk of pulmonary bleeding when it takes longer than 240min, and it is essential to perform the graft replacement in the possible shortest time.

Ischemic mitral regurgitation (IMR) is a serious and increasingly common clinical disorder, but at present, the relationship between left ventricular shape and IMR is not completely understood. Thirty patients with moderate or severe IMR who underwent mitral valve surgery combined with coronary artery bypass grafting were studied retrospectively. Left ventricular shape, left ventricular regional wall motion, hemodynamic index, condition of the coronary artery, severity of IMR and long term results were assessed using ventriculography and angiography. Left ventricular shape at end diastole and end systole were quantified based upon the ratio of the major-to-minor axis and the sphericity index. Hospital mortality rate was 13.3%, 5 years survival rates were 10.5%, and 5-year rate of freedom from congestive heart failure (CHF) were 7.8%. Significant difference between cardiac deaths (n=11) and survivors (n=19) included requiring intensive care admission, requiring intra-aortic balloon pumping, recurrent myocardial infarction, the ratio of the major-minor axis at end diastole, the sphericity index at diastole, and the sphericity index at end systole. Multivariable regression analyses were performed with the Cox proportional hazards model. Significant determinants of survival were the sphericity index at end systole and LV regional wall motion at the site of the anterobasal segment or apex. These findings indicate that the shape of the LV and LV regional wall motion in IMR may be important determinants of prognosis and suggest that surgical attention to shape may be helpful for mitral valve surgery.

We report two cases the first was a 74-year-old woman who had received coronary artery bypass grafting [SVG-to-LAD, SVG-to-Cx, SVG-to-RCA, the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) was mobilized but was unsuitable for the graft] two years previously. Postoperative angiography revealed graft occlusion. Since repeated catheter intervention was not successful, reoperation was performed. A MIDCAB procedure with radial artery graft and proximal anastomosis was performed on the left axillary artery. The operation was successful and there were no complications. Two weeks after the operation, the graft patency was confirmed and she was discharged. The second case was a 64-year-old man who received coronary artery grafting (LITA-to-LAD, SVG-to-Cx and SVG-to-RCA). Two months after the operation, recurrent chest pain was caused by severe stenosis of the LITA anastomotic site. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty was performed but was unsuccessful. He received redo CABG in the same manner using the saphenous vein. The postoperative course was uneventful and he was discharged 6 days after the operation. This procedure is useful for the patients whose left internal thoracic artery has been used on a previous operation. Good early results were obtained in both patients.

A 62-year-old man was transferred to our institution with ventricular fibrillation. Percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS) was established and he underwent successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Since his left ventricular function did not recover, he was placed on a left ventricular assist system (LVAS). Under general anesthesia, a 10-cm longitudinal incision was made on the right parasternum. The third and fourth cartilages were completely resected. The pericardium was incised longitudinally. At first, an inflow cannula was insected to the right side of the left atrium. The ascending aorta was then partially excluded and an outflow cannula with a 10mm Gore-Tex prosthesis was anastomosed end-to-side to the aorta with a continuous Gore-Tex suture. After the pump was established, PCPS was gradually discontinued. During 9 days of support, his left ventricular function recovered and subsequently he was weaned from LVAS. Unfortunately, he died two days after LVAS removal. We think this procedure is useful because it is easy to perform, reduces the bleeding, shortens the operating time.

The aim of this study is to clarify the present situation of activities of continuing medical education (CME) for the primary care physicians to whom the leading hospitals, such as universities and clinical trainee hospitals perform CME in their regions. A questionaire was designed for main 4 parts, as following: 1) On the purpose of CME for the physicians. 2) On the organization (office) managing CME in the hospitals. 3) On the strategies of CME. 4) On the evaluation of CME. Answers to a questionaire were replied from 234 institutions (58.1%). Analyzing the results, we recognized that the leading hospitals actively carried out CME for the primary care physicians in the community. Furthermore, conversion to experiential learning from passive learning and establishment of evaluation methods should be promoted in CME.