The Annals of thoracic surgery
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Arteriosclerosis of the ascending aorta is an important risk factor for cerebral embolism. However, the association between arteriosclerosis of the ascending aorta and neurologic dysfunction after coronary artery surgery has not been evaluated prospectively. ⋯ Severe arteriosclerosis of the ascending aorta significantly increased the risk of postoperative neuropsychologic dysfunction and stroke after coronary artery bypass grafting. If a thick plaque is noted near the manipulation site, a nontouch method of the ascending aorta should be applied to reduce the incidence of neurologic dysfunction.
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Tuberculous aortitis generally develops at the distal aortic arch and the descending aorta that are close to specific groups of mediastinal lymph nodes, but exceptionally it develops in the ascending aorta. We report a case of rupture of the ascending aorta after tuberculous aortitis in a 53-year-old man without a history of tuberculosis or evidence of a primary foci who underwent cardiopulmonary resuscitation due to severe hemoptysis with subsequent cardiac arrest. The tuberculous aortitis associated with rupture of the ascending aorta was treated with surgical resection and in situ graft placement.
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Case Reports
Acute retrograde aortic dissection during endovascular repair of a thoracic aortic aneurysm.
Endovascular aneurysm exclusion represents a valuable alternative treatment for descending thoracic aortic aneurysms. Although the minimally invasive character of this procedure is obvious, major complications are possible. We report a 77-year-old male who developed acute retrograde dissection of the aortic arch and ascending aorta during endovascular stent-grafting of a descending aortic aneurysm. Emergent open surgical repair provided a successful outcome.
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Primary chondromyxoid fibroma (CMF) of the sternum is quite rare with only four cases documented in the literature. We present a new case of CMF arising from the sternum of a 47-year-old man and compare it with the previous cases.
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We used serial measurements of serum S-100B protein to evaluate the time course of serum S-100B protein concentration after cardiovascular surgery and to determine the clinical relevance of its concentration and cerebral damage. ⋯ Serial measurement of serum S-100B protein in the initial 12 hours after cardiopulmonary bypass can be used to predict early postoperative brain injury.