We report a case of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infectious endocarditis (IE) which was successfully treated with linezolid (LZD). The patient was a 44-year old woman. She was referred to our hospital because of fever of unknown origin. MRSA was detected from blood cultures and echocardiography revealed vegetation on the right coronary cusp of the aortic valve. She was diagnosed with MRSA endocarditis according to the Duke criteria, and was immediately give vancomycin (VCM) and isepamicin. Sixteen days after administration of VCM, she had a progressively increasing skin rash. It was considered a side effect of antibiotics and VCM was replaced with teicoplanin (TEIC). Eventually, LZD was given to her at 22 days after hospitalization because TEIC was not effective. LZD alleviated the fever and diminished the signs of vasculitis due to endocarditis within a week. LZD was continued for 4 weeks with cardiac failure medically controlled, and she underwent aortic valve replacement using a mechanical prosthetic valve. LZD was injected just before the operation and continued for 15 days postoperatively, followed by oral administration of levofloxacin. She was discharged 35 POD and no recurrence of the infection had been observed at 1 year after the surgery. LZD could be an alternative therapy for MRSA endocarditis, but further examinations are warranted to determine the most appropriate regimen.

A 39-year-old woman was referred for assessment of abnormality of on a CT scan with a vascular anomaly of the aortic arch. This patient was completely asymptomatic with no concomitant pathologies and no reported prior trauma. Laboratory data for syphilitic or other microbial infections were negative. The diagnosis was confirmed by angiographic computed tomographic scan with 3-dimensional reconstruction. This technique documented the presence of the aneurysm and the left subclavian artery arising from the unique form of aneurysm. Early surgery was preferred because of the young age of the patient and the morphology and the size of the aneurysm (50 mm). Surgery was performed by a left postero-lateral thoracotomy through the forth intercostal space. Femoro-femoral partial cardiopulmonary bypass was used for distal perfusion. An aortic clamp was placed just distal to the left carotid artery, and a second clamp was placed in the descending thoracic aorta. The aortic isthmus was replaced with a 20-mm Dacron graft, and the left subclavian artery was reimplanted to the prosthesis with an 8-mm Dacron graft interposition. This aneurysm was the result of abnormal organogenesis of a primitive aortic arch and the remnant of the dorsal aorta, in other words, Kommerell's diverticulum. Microscopic examination demonstrated severe medial layer atrophy. In the light of the high risk of rupture, which was proved to be present by the very thin aneurysm wall at the time of surgery, we suggest early surgical treatment of idiopathic isthmus aneurysms in young patients regardless of aneurysm diameter.

A 79-year old man presented with hoarseness and we diagnosed an aortic arch aneurysm, 60 mm in diameter. The aortic arch was right-sided and traversed posterior to the esophagus and trachea, and the arch vessels were mirror-imaged. Total arch replacement was performed under hypothermic circulation arrest using selective cerebral perfusion through a median sternotomy. Three cervical vessels were reconstructed, a 24-mm Hemashield was passed anterior to the trachea and esophagus, and an additional right thoracotomy was not necessary. The patient was uneventfully discharged on the 26th postoperative day.