We report the results of aortic arch replacement in 32 patients (20 males, 12 females) with aortic arch aneurysm, including 9 emergency cases. The etiology of aneurysm was atherosclerotic aneurysm in 18 patients, pseudoaneurysm in 1 patient, and aortic dissection in 13 patients. Selective cerebral perfusion (SCP) and retrograde cerebral perfusion (RCP), which are used for brain protection during aortic arch reconstruction, were both employed in this study according to our institutional policy. RCP was started at the moment of circulatory arrest after which the aneurysm was opened. In the case of 1-branch reconstruction or hemiarch replacement, we only employed RCP. If 2-branch reconstruction or total arch replacement was needed, we switched to SCP. After the distal graft anastomosis was performed, antegrade systemic perfusion was started via the 4th branch of the graft. Subsequently, 3 arch vessels was reconstructed with rewarming to shorten the SCP time, and finally proximal graft anastomosis was performed. Distal graft anastomosis with a new technique was applied in the 10 most recent cases. The “cuff” was made at the distal anastomosis site of the graft beforehand and this “cuff” was sutured to the aortic wall in an elephant-trunk fashion. This technique was a simple approach to repairing the distal lesion and allowed easy addition of stitches in case's of bleeding. The in-hospital mortality rate was 6.3% (2 of 32 patients) and the rate of cerebrovascular accident was 6.3% (2 of 32 patients). This technique for aortic arch repair is a useful method that results in low rates of in-hospital mortality and morbidity.

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) using in situ skeletonized arterial conduits with an off-pump technique is a high quality and minimally invasive procedure. The internal thoracic artery (ITA) is the most reliable conduit as grafting the left anterior descending artery and circumflex arteries with bilateral ITAs leads to better long-term patient outcomes. In this study, we demonstrated the feasibility and usefulness of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting surgery using bilateral ITAs. A total of 217 consecutive CABG cases using skeletonized ITA grafts were studied and they were divided into 2 groups are using unilateral ITA (UITA, n=104) and the other using bilateral ITA (BITA, n=113). OPCAB was completed in 94% (98/104) in the UITA group and in 99% (112/113) in the BITA group. The mean number of distal anastomoses per patient was 3.02 in the UITA group and 3.63 in the BITA group. The ITAs were used in situ in 100% (104 ITAs) in the UITA group and in 96% (217 ITAs) in the BITA group. One patient in the UITA group suffered from mediastinitis and one patient in the BITA group died due to intestinal ischemia 3 days after operation. Postoperative angiography was performed before discharge in 101 patients in UITA and 99 in BITA. The patency rate was 98.7% in the UITA group and 99.4% in the BITA group. OPCAB with bilateral skeltonized ITAs is a feasible and safe technique with excellent early clinical results and graft patency. OPCAB using in situ skeletonized artery conduits can become a standard surgical treatment for ischemic heart disease.

Thirty-nine years old woman had a severe renovascular hyper-tension with Takayasu's arteritis Her left renal artery stenosis was treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) three times. Six months after the third PTA, the left renal artery was occluded, and left renal failure occurred. Aorto-renal bypass surgery with a prosthetic graft was performed. Blood pressure dropped to normal range, and left renal function began to recover. Although PTA is an effective method in the treatment of renovascular hypertension, an incidence of restenosis after PTA is higher in Takayasu's arteritis rather than atherosclerotic lesions. Five months after renal revascularization, hypertension recurred in this case. However the aorto-renal bypass graft was patent accompanied by no symptoms. This aorto-renal bypass surgery can be considered effective in this condition.

Congenital quadricuspid aortic valve is a very rare malformation. Most cases have been discovered as an incidental finding at aortic valve surgery or at autopsy. It frequently evolves to aortic regurgitation, which can manifest in adulthood and may require surgical treatment. A 66-year-old man was admitted because of dysprea. Echocardiogram revealed aortic regurgitation, mitral regurgitation, and tricuspid regurgitation. We performed aortic valve replacement, mitral annuloplasty, and tricuspid annuloplasty successfully. The aortic valve showed one large, two intermediate and one smaller cusp, which were classified as typed by Hurwitz's classification. An accessory cusp was situated between the right and left coronary cusps. No coronary abnormality was involved. The postoperative course was uneventful and he is doing well 6 months after operation.

Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting (MIDCAB) has been performed in some institutions and mid-term results have been reported. However, because of its technical difficulty, the procedure has not been gaining acceptance among cardiovascular surgeons. We report the clinical results of our MIDCAB series and describe the effect and role of the MIDCAB in the therapy of ischemic heart disease. From May 1999 through May 2002, 65 patients (age 29 to 90 years) underwent MIDCAB via a small left thoracotomy. Postoperative angiography was performed before discharge in all patients. No conversions to sternotomy were necessary. There were no operative, hospital or mid-term mortalities, nor were these any major complications, including myocardial infarction, stroke, respiratory failure, and other organ failure. Wound infection occurred in 1 patient. No graft occlusion was seen. Graft stenosis was seen in only 1 patient. The graft patency rate was 98.5% (66/67). Postoperative cardiac events included 2 incidents of angina, and 4 of atrial fibrillation. There were no incidents of congestive heart failure. MIDCAB is a safe and less-invasive operation. According to our clinical results, MIDCAB is an alternative to conventional coronary artery bypass grafting for selected patients, especially for those at high risk.

The purpose of this study was to analyze our results of mitral valve repair with a rigid annuloplasty ring (Carpentier-Edwards ring; Baxer-Edwards CVS Laboratories; Lrvine, Calif) in terms of its efficacy and safety. We have examined postoperative mitral regurgitation (MR) and left ventricular diastolic dimension (LVDd) in 63 cases of mitral valvoplasty during a period of 5 years. The operative methods were 20 cases of tendon reconstruction, 42 cases of quadrangular resection, and 15 cases of annuloplasty alone. Operative mortality and freedom from complications were examined at the mean 41.2 months after the operation. There were no operative deaths, and no case with severe MR postoperatively. From echocardiographic findings, the grade of MR changed from 3.13 to 0.28 postoperatively, and LVDd changed from 58.4±6.71 to 48.7±6.3ml postoperatively. Reoperation was performed in 2 cases (3.2%) several years after the first operation. The rate of midterm mortality was 4.8%. The postoperative mitral valve area was 2.85cm² in size of 26mm ring, 2.95cm² in size of 28mm, 3.09cm² in size of 30mm, which were measured from PHT (pressure half time) of the Doppler echocardiography. In conclusion, mitral valve repair with rigid annuloplasty ring (CE ring) provided good results for MR at midterm follow-up.

A 62-year-old woman with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) was admitted to undergo cardiac surgery for aortic stenosis, angina pectoris, and paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. A bleeding tendency was expected due to the dramatic decrease in platelets during cardiopulmonary bypass. We performed high-dose transvenous gammaglobulin infusion (400mg/kg/day) for 5 consecutive days immediately before surgery. The gammaglobulin therapy caused steady increase of thrombocytes from 4 days after surgery, even though the platelet count showed no significant change preoperatively. The postoperative course was satisfactory with neither a bleeding tendency nor wound infection. High-dose transvenous gammaglobulin therapy is thus useful for perioperative patients with accompanying ITP, who are often under medication with steroids. This therapy is also effective for prevention of infection.

In the presence of Leriche syndrome, the lower extremities are perfused by collateral flow from internal mammary arteries. If an internal mammary artery graft is used in coronary artery surgery, an acute ischemic limb will develop postoperatively. A 52-year-old man was admitted to our department with bilateral claudication. Multidetector row computed tomography with contrast showed total occlusion of the infrarenal abdominal aorta and rich collateral flow to the lower extremities from internal mammary arteries. Cardiac angiography revealed three-vessel disease. Simultaneous coronary artery bypass grafting and an ascending aorto-bifemoral bypass were performed without cardiopulmonary bypass. Postoperative computed tomography angiography showed that grafts to the coronary and bifemoral arteries were patent. This combined procedure is useful for patients with coronary artery disease and aortoiliac occlusive disease. This procedure without cardiopulmonary bypass has not previously been reported.

Aortoduodenal fistula is rare complication of nonoperative abdominal aortic aneurysm. We successfully treated a case of primary aortoenteric fistula associated with Behcet's Disease with two surgical intervention. The patient was 41 years old man. He admitted to our hospital because of severe shock due to enormous gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Emergency laparotomy revealed the inflammatory abdominalaneurysm ruptured into the duodenum. As the saccular aneurysm was densely adherent with duodenum and retoroperitoneum, graft replacement was abandoned. Primary closure of the perforated area of duodenum and the neck of aneurysm were performed. Axillofemoral bypass restored blood flow of the lower extremities. Three month after the operation, aortoduodenal fistula recurred. On the second operation, abdominal aorta was divided through retroperitoneal approach. However, primary closure of the enteric perforation with graft replacement of the aorta is considered as the first choice of the surgical treatment for aortoenteric fistula. In a case of difficult condition such as this patient with severe shock or retroperitoneal fibrosis, repair of the duodenum wall and division of the abdominal aorta with axillofemoral bypass is an alternative method of choice.

  【Purpose】The number of deaths in the bathtub in the home is increasing year by year, of which about 90% are people over 65 years old. The purpose of this study was to verify the hypothesis that the effect on the circulatory dynamics would be less if one took a half-body bath first and then a whole- body bath after a certain period of time, rather than suddenly taking a whole- body bath.  【Methods】The subjects were ten healthy community elderly men (70.3 ± 4.0 years old). The subjects were bathed at 39°C and 41°C, respectively, with two immersion methods of a 6-min whole body bath and a 3 min whole-body bath after a 3 min half-bath (6 min total). Measured items were systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse (PR), oxygen saturation (SpO2), and forehead skin temperature. The subjective thermal sensation and comfort were also confirmed verbally. Measurements were carried out in the sitting posture before bathing, within 1 min after bathing, after 2 min, 3 min, and 5 min, just after the bath, and 5 min after sitting rest.   【Results】In both SBP (p = .010) and DBP (p = .019), the interaction between bathing conditions and measurement time was significant. SBP was greatly affected by temperature regardless of whether or not stepped immersion was used, and blood pressure decreased immediately after bathing at 41°C. DBP showed a significant decrease during bathing at 41°C compared with the whole-body bath after half-body bathing.  【Discussion】The SBP was markedly decreased immediately after taking a bath at a temperature of 41°C regardless of whether or not the subject was gradually immersed. It is thought that the condition is similar to that of orthostatic hypotension. Furthermore, DBP also showed a decrease of 10 mmHg or more, corresponding to changes during orthostatic hypotension, when bathing only with a whole-body bath at a temperature of 41°C. On the other hand, in the whole-body bath after half-body bathing, the decrease in DBP was less than 10 mmHg even at 41°C.