The Annals of thoracic surgery
-
We used a Freestyle (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) porcine root to replace a regurgitant aortic valve and repair acute type A dissection. A Hemashield (Meadox Medicals, Oakland, NJ) graft was used to replace the ascending aorta with the "open anastomosis" technique. This method is a valuable alternative to conventional root replacement in acute type A dissection.
-
A modified repair technique is reported for mixed total or partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection with the right superior pulmonary vein connecting to the superior vena cava, the right inferior pulmonary vein to the right atrium or left atrium, and the left pulmonary veins to the coronary sinus. The superior vena cava is transected above the highest right superior pulmonary vein, its cephalad end is anastomosed to the right atrial appendage, and a pericardial baffle is constructed between the cardiac ostium of the superior vena cava, the ostium of the right inferior pulmonary vein, and the left atrium, including the coronary sinus, which is unroofed. The reported technique may be valuable to avoid pulmonary venous obstruction in complex mixed forms of total or partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection.
-
Case Reports
Successful thrombolysis of an occluded modified Blalock shunt three days after operation.
A 10-day-old boy with pulmonary atresia received a right-sided aortopulmonary polytetrafluoroethylene shunt. Three days after the operation he became cyanotic and was reintubated. Shunt occlusion was confirmed with angiography. ⋯ The thrombus was completely resolved after 2 days. When administration of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator was stopped, heparin infusion was started for 5 days. Shunt patency was demonstrated by angiography at 3 months postoperatively.
-
Controversy exists about the choice of treatment for patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. The purpose of this study was to evaluate clinical and echocardiographic long-term results in patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy after septal myectomy and to determine predictors of event-free survival in these patients. ⋯ Septal myectomy is associated with a low perioperative mortality and a high late survival rate (72% at 15 years' follow-up). Septal myectomy is still an excellent modality in the treatment strategy for symptomatic patients with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy.
-
The public's and surgeons' perception of minimally invasive operations are frequently at odds. Nevertheless, real or perceived benefits may result from limiting skin and skeletal trauma. ⋯ On the basis of this initial experience, we attempt all congenital cardiac and isolated adult valve operations through ministernotomy.