A 61-year-old woman developed shock during transportation to our hospital in an ambulance under a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, Emergency coronary angiography showed left anterior interventricular descending branch #6 to be completely occluded. At the same time, ultrasonic cardiography showed pericardial effusion. Therefore we diagnosed left ventricular free wall rupture, and performed emergency surgery to repair the rupture site. After pericardiotomy massive hemorrhage occurred and we diagnosed blow-out type left ventricular free wall rupture. We immediately established extracorporeal circulation via the femoral artery and vein, and cross clamped the ascending aorta, then achieved cardiac arrest. Because the area of myocardial infarction was extensive, we applied the David-Komeda method to avoid bleeding due to left ventricular systolic pressure, left ventricular aneurysm or ventricular septal rupture. The postoperative course was good; the patient was weaned from PCPS on the 3rd day postoperatively, IABP on the 5th day postoperatively and from the respirator on the 8th day postoperatively. She was discharged on postoperative day 40. Currently she has no cardiac complains, no left ventricular aneurysm and no neurological problems. Left ventricular free wall rupture can remain a fatal complication after acute myocardial infarction. We consider the David-Komeda method useful for repairing left ventricular free wall rupture (blow-out type) after acute myocardial infarction as well as ventricular septal rupture without a risk of left ventricular aneurysm, bleeding or ventricular septal wall rupture.

A 22-year-old woman without any serious distincted symptoms was found to have hypertension on a health examination. On further examinations, involving echocardiography and chest enhanced CT, showed dilatation of the ascending aorta, aortic coarctation, well-developed intercostal arteries and other collateral arteries. She was only 137 cm tall and weighed 52 kg. Besides, she had not had menstruation for the past two years. Chromosomal studies revealed Turner syndrome. Left lateral thoracotomy was thought to have the risk of heavy bleeding from collateral arteries, therefore we chose ascending-to-descending aorta bypass grafting through median sternotomy. She had an uncomplicated postoperative course. Here we report about operation in a adult case of coarctation of the aorta and discuss the usefulness of extraanatomical bypass grafting.

We report a case of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). A 24-year-old woman with SLE had been treated with steroids and immunosuppressive agents for 7 years. The patient was admitted to Kumamoto University Hospital for the management of unstable angina. CABG was successfully performed using bilateral internal thoracic arteries and postoperative 3D-CT demonstrated good patency of both arterial grafts. The patient experienced no significant postoperative complications, and has remained well to date (8 months postdischarge).

An 88-year-old woman presented at a local hospital with a left femoral pulsatile mass. CT revealed saccular aneurysms with irregular intima in the descending thoracic aorta, the right common femoral artery and the left superficial femoral artery. They were 60 mm, 30 mm, and 25 mm in diameter, respectively. After referral to our hospital, multiple inflammatory aneurysms were strongly suspected by detailed examinations. Endovascular treatment including thoracic endovascular aortic repair and surgical replacement were performed by two-stage operations. After steroid therapy was started postoperatively, her c-reactive protein (CRP) value decreased. Nevertheless, the thoracic aortic aneurysm enlarged and she died due to hemorrhage. Multiple inflammatory aneurysms are extremely rare. We consider that appropriate steroid therapy and close follow-up are most important.

An 80-year-old man presented with a history of retrosternal gastric tube reconstruction for esophageal cancer. He experienced sudden chest pain, and temporarily lost consciousness, before being transferred to our hospital. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed acute Stanford type A aortic dissection and a retrosternal gastric tube. We performed emergency operation using a median sternotomy approach. Before median sternotomy, we detected the gastric tube in the subxiphoid and suprasternal spaces. The anterior and right sides of the gastric tube were dissected bluntly from the posterior surface of the sternum and median sternotomy was performed. The gastric tube was mobilized to the left side and we were able to obtain the usual operative view for ascending aorta graft replacement. Intraoperatively, the gastric tube remained intact and uninjured. The patient was transferred to another hospital for rehabilitation on postoperative day 34.

A 66-year-old man with an unknown medical history developed chest pain and a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was given by his physician. Percutaneous coronary intervention was performed in the left anterior descending artery. Echocardiography revealed ventricular septal perforation (VSP) ; therefore, the patient was transferred to our hospital. After admission, his platelet count dropped rapidly during heparin administration, and left ventricular thrombosis and deep vein thrombosis were noted, raising a suspicion of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). To establish cardiopulmonary bypass, argatroban alone was insufficient to prolong the Powered by Editorial Manager^® and ProduXion Manager^® from the Aries Systems Corporation activated clotting time (ACT) ; thus, nafamostat mesilate was also used for coronary artery bypass grafting and surgical repair of VSP. It took many hours to normalize the ACT, requiring re-exploration for excessive bleeding. On the 37th postoperative day, the patient was transferred to another hospital. We performed cardiac surgical procedures using argatroban in a patient who developed HIT during the course of VSP following AMI ; however, we had difficulty in controlling the ACT. Since, to the best of our knowledge, there are no previous studies reporting surgical case of VSP complicated by HIT, we present this case with a review of the relevant literature.

The case was a 27-year-old woman with a history of Turner syndrome. The patient underwent ascending-descending aorta bypass for aortic coarctation 6 years previously and underwent subsequent follow-up on an outpatient basis. She consulted our department because of fever, chest pain and headache as the main complaints. Age-indeterminate type A aortic dissection was found on computed tomography, and she was admitted to the hospital on the same day. Echocardiography also revealed an enlarged aortic root and bicuspid aortic valve. Aortic root replacement and total arch replacement were performed, and her postoperative course was favorable. It is reported that in cases of Turner syndrome with aortic coarctation, aortic aneurysm and aortic dissection are likely to occur due to the vulnerability of the aortic wall. We encountered a patient with Turner syndrome who underwent ascending-descending aorta bypass for adult aortic coarctation and subsequently developed type A aortic dissection, underwent aortic root and total arch replacement, and rehabilitated after surgery, as well as provide bibliographic considerations.

Abstract A large rubella epidemic is currently ongoing since 2018 in Osaka, Japan. The detected rubella viruses were classified into genotypes 1E lineage 2 and 2B lineage 1. These strains may have been imported from endemic countries, and these viruses spread within the susceptible population.