A 22-year-old woman had been treated with a Ross operation for aortic root aneurysm and aortic regurgitation 10 years previously. In the initial Ross operation, a handmade tri-leaflet conduit was used for the right ventricle outflow tract (RVOT) reconstruction. The conduit was prepared preoperatively, by sewing a folded 0.1 mm expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membrane onto the luminal cavity of the 24 mm woven double velour vascular graft, thereby creating a tri-leaflet valve. During ambulatory follow up after discharge, dilation of the pulmonary autograft had been observed, and its maximal diameter reached 60 mm. Furthermore, preoperative a pressure study revealed a 25 mmHg pressure gradient between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery. At the time of reoperation, we performed an aortic root replacement combined with RVOT conduit replacement. A 24-mm woven double velour vascular graft integrating a 21-mm On-X mechanical prosthesis was used for aortic root replacement. A handmade ePTFE tri-leaflet conduit, 26 mm in size, was used to replace the previous RVOT conduit. The operation was successful, and the postoperative course was uneventful. The explanted conduit was sent for microscopic examination, which revealed that the graft was covered by a fibrocollagenous membrane. On the contrary, no surface membrane was found on the ePTFE valve. Moreover the microscopic examination showed cystic medionecrosis of the pulmonary autograft. Both dilatation of the pulmonary autograft and RVOT conduit failure were successfully treated at the second operation. However this young patient will require follow-up of the mechanical prosthesis and RVOT conduit for the rest of her life.

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).

[Objective]Daily repetitive exercise is known to be necessary for players in sports. In this study, to further explore the potential functions of acupuncture, we studied whether electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation has efficacy for repetitive exercise-induced oxidative stress.
[Methods]Six healthy male volunteers participated in both the non-treatment control group and the EA group in a crossover design. EA stimulation was applied to both the medial vastus muscles at 2 Hz and optimum intensity for each subject during ten min just before each exercise period. The subject performed ergometer exercise for 20 min with 75%of maximal oxygen uptake each day. This exercise period was performed once a day for three consecutive days. Blood lactate level (BLL) and plasma lipid peroxide (LP) concentration were measured as the markers for metabolism and oxidative stress, respectively. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the individual level of fatigue due to exercise.
[Results]During and just after the exercise period, each value of BLL in the EA group was lower than the same points in the control group. Whereas LP concentrations before the exercise period on the first day in the control group was higher than the values in the same points on the second and third days. LP concentrations before the exercise period in the EA group were almost the same levels for three days. Furthermore, after the exercise period for the three consecutive days, LP concentrations and VAS in the EA group were lower than each value of the same points in the control group, and especially, the alteration of VAS showed a significant difference.
[Conclusion]The increased tendency of LP concentrations before the exercise period for three days in the control group indicated that repetitive exercise induced the accumulation of excess lipid peroxide. It might be suggested that EA stimulation suppressed subjective fatigue by an enhanced energy metabolic rate and decreased production of lipid peroxide. Hence the evidence strongly supported that EA stimulation might be useful for sports conditioning.

We report a successfully treated case of double valve replacement for mucopolysaccharosis in a 27-year-old woman. Mucopolysaccharosis had been suspected since she was aged 11. Symptoms of heart failure and chest pain suggested valvular disease and she was referred to us. Echocardiography, aortography and cardioangiography showed aortic regurgitation (grade IV/IV) and mitral regurgitation (grade III/IV). She received double valve replacement and was discharged on the 38th postoperative day with symptom improvement. Although urinalysis was positive for heparan-sulfate, this case could not be diagnosed definitively as mucopolysaccharosis due to normal lymphocytic enzyme-activity. However, large amounts of mucopolysaccharoid deposits were present in her removed aortic and mitral valve leaflets, and her clinical picture corresponded with mucopolysaccharosis. Thus, it was considered that her ultimate diagnosis was combined cardiac valvular disease due to mucopolysaccharosis.

A 68-year-old man was taken to our hospital by ambulance due to syncope. He was in shock with cardiac tamponade. Pericardial drainage was performed. Aortic valve regurgitation gradually increased and surgery was performed at 25 days after onset. Surgical finding showed that there was a detachment of the commissure between the right and non coronary cusps of the aortic valve. An intimal tear was detected in the same place and aortic root replacement was required. The patient had a good recovery and he was discharged 14 days after surgery.

A 78-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of progressive exertional dyspnea due to nonrheumatic severe aortic valve stenosis and moderate mitral valve stenosis with mitral annular calcification. We subsequently performed aortic valve replacement and mitral anterior leaflet decalcification. During surgery, we found that the cause of mitral valve stenosis was calcification of A2 aortic curtain-medial trigon through aortic valve annulus and resected calcification with SONOPET. The postoperative echocardiography revealed good mitral valve motion with mild mitral valve stenosis.