Kyobu geka. The Japanese journal of thoracic surgery
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It is very difficult to insert an intra-aortic balloon pumping catheter into the descending aorta through the subclavian artery by the blind technique. But the technique with the guidance by trans-esophageal echocardiography to introduce the balloon into the descending aorta was simple and useful.
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It is sometimes difficult to repair the pulmonary artery in extreme tetralogy of Fallot and other similar complex heart diseases, such as pulmonary atresia with major aorto-pulmonary collateral arteries, because of their complexity. Therefore, cardiopulmonary bypass takes longer in these patients than in those with usual tetralogy of Fallot. We undertook reconstruction of the pulmonary artery in 4 cases of extreme tetralogy of Fallot and other similar complex heart diseases before cardiopulmonary bypass. ⋯ There was no significant difference in cardiopulmonary bypass time between the two groups. In the 4 extreme cases, the postoperative course was uneventful. We conclude that this attempt reduced the cardiopulmonary bypass time and facilitated the surgical correction.