Some doctors change specialty from cardiac surgery to cardiology or peripheral vascular surgery or practice general medicine before retirement age. We carried out a survey to investigate their working conditions and reasons for changing their specialty. We sent questionnaires by mail to 154 doctors of whom 56 (36%) answered. The most common reason for changing specialty was taking over their family's practice, and the second most common reason was a small income. Actually, the annual income of 41 doctors increased after changing from cardiac surgery (75%). Many cardiac surgeons have to work with a years lest self-sacrifice and unpaid overtime work. Of the respordents 65% could not renew their Japanese Board of Cardiovascular Surgery, because of their limited operative numbers. If the current condition continues, the number of cardiac surgeons in Japan will decrease. It is necessary to improve working conditions and the environment so that surgeons can concentrate more on operations.

Preoperative factors associated with serum haptoglobin levels in 35 patients before open heart surgery were evaluated, and the relationship between the incidence of hemoglobinuria with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and preoperative haptoglobin level were analyzed. Inflammation increased haptoglobin levels, but the level of 2-2 type of haptoglobin were lower than those of other types of haptoglobin. In valvular disease, 5 of 6 patients with valvular sclerosis of the aortic valve had reduced haptoglobin levels and two patients had anhaptoglobinemia. Hypohaptoglobinemia seemed to be observed more frequently in aortic valvular disease than in mitral valvular disease. During CPB, serum hemoglobin increased at 0.36mg/dl/min, but haptoglobin levels at the initiation of CPB decreased to less than 30% of preoperative levels, therefore, for similar periods of CPB, the incidence of hemoglobinemia in patients with preoperative hypohaptoglobinemia was higher than in patients without preoperative hypohaptoglobinemia. Preoperative haptoglobin determination is required in candidates for open heart surgery, and haptoglobin administration is recommended in patients with hypohaptoglobinemia.

Postoperative quantitative evaluation of left internal thoracic artery (LITA) grafts is usually performed by angiography, scintigraphy and Doppler flowire. However it is difficult to observe the characteristics of the intima of the LITA graft. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics and quantity of plaque of intima of LITA grafts in 6 cases after coronary artery bypass surgery using an intra-vascular ultrasound device (IVUS). There was no stenosis or calcification of LITA grafts on angiography. However we found atherosclerotic plaque in all LITA grafts by IVUS. Characteristics of plaque were eccentric in all cases, and soft, hard and mixed plaque were found. The average minimal lumen diameter of LITA grafts was 2.6±0.2mm. The average lumen area of LITA grafts was 5.4±0.7mm². The rate of plaque area was 37.1±5.9%. The eccentric arteriosclerotic plaques were seen in all cases, contradicting the established theory that LITA do not form arteriosclerosis easily. We suggest that IVUS is an effective follow-up device for evaluating the morphological findings and quantitative evaluation of LITA graft in a timely manner.

The left ventricle assist device (LVAD) has become an important therapeutic option in the treatment of acute or chronic heart failure. It is usually used as bridge to transplantation or recovery. At present, destination therapy with LVAD has been a therapeutic option in patients with heart failure in whom transplantation is not indicated. We describe a patient, who received destination therapy with LVAD, and was able to go home temporarily. The patient was a 63-year-old man with low output syndrome after acute myocardial infarction. An LVAD (TOYOBO) was implanted at Oita University Hospital, however the patient suffered from MRSA mediastinitis 6 months later. He and his family wished for him to temporarily go home to Ibaraki. The patient, supported by LVAD, was transferred from Oita to Ibaraki by a regular commercial flight and ambulance. Rehabilitation training involved stretching, in-bed muscle strength training, maintaining a standing position, walking on flat ground with a walker and going up and down ramps. All training was measured at the patient's home. The patient was out of hospital for 5 hours, and this period was uneventful upon leaving hospital. The patient also took an active part in rehabilitation after discharge. This program can help to improve the quality of life (QOL) of patients with implanted LVADs for destination therapy.

We perfomed an aortic valve replacement and intraoperative plasma exchange with Cell Saver 4^® made by Haemonetics for removal of bilirubin. Diluted blood after cardiopulmonary bypass and suctioned blood (total volume 11, 300ml) was washed, concentrated and transfused. Plasma bilirubin level was decreased to 5.4mg/dl from 9.9mg/dl during operation. It was concluded that intraoperative plasma excange with Cell Saver 4^® was safe and effective technique for removal of bilirubin during open heart surgery.

An internal felt-reinforced patch-plasty was performed in 11 patients with dissecting aortic aneurysm (DeBakey type I: 4 cases, type II: 1 case, type III: 5 cases, aortic arch dissection: 1 case). The aortic cross-clamp time was 84±19 min on the average. The initial tear of the aortic intima was closed on 10 patients. Minor leakage through a felt inserted in the false lumen was observed in one patient of type I. There was no operation-related death except one patient of type III who died from arrythmia encountered following termination of centrifugal pump bypass. Thrombotic occlusion of the false lumen developed in the ascending aorta in type I and II cases, and in the desceding aorta in type III one month after operation. The false lumen localized in the aortic arch was completely occluded by thromi. Postoperative course was excellent in all patients after 16 months on the average. Internal felt-reinforced patch-plasty is a simple and reliable procedure for closing the intial tear of dissecting aortic aneurysms.

No abstract available.
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