Coronary stent migration to aorta with successful recovery during aortobifemoral bypass.

We present with full and proper consent of the patient, the case of a 64-year-old man with severe peripheral arterial disease and a known chronic infrarenal aortic occlusion causing severe short-distance claudication. Preoperative computed tomography angiography was significant for a new "cylindrical" calcified lesion. During the elective surgery, the lesion was confirmed to be a coronary stent. The coronary stent was confirmed to be from the patient's prior percutaneous coronary intervention to the left anterior descending artery 1 year prior. The stent was removed without complications by the surgical team. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such case to be described in current literature. This patient is currently alive, and a revision of his left anterior descending artery intervention was found to be unwarranted on repeat coronary angiography.

Imaging and monitoring in minimally invasive valve surgery using an intra-aortic occlusion device: a single center experience.

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive approach through a right mini-thoracotomy is a world-wide used procedure for mitral valve surgery. We performed a retrospective analysis based on our center experience in order to propose an effective, safe and reproducible method using an intra-aortic occlusion device. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis on 48 consecutive patients undergoing mitral valve surgery through a right anterolateral mini-thoracotomy in our center. An intra-aortic occlusion device was used for aortic clamping and cardioplegia delivery. Simultaneous multi-plane three-dimensional echocardiography imaging was acquired to detect the venous cannulas position, the intra-aortic device location in the ascending aorta, the balloon inflation, the complete occlusion of the aorta, the cardioplegia delivery, the origin and the blood flow in the right coronary artery. Aortic root pressure was measured by the tip of the intra-aortic occlusion device. A bilateral upper extremity invasive arterial pressure monitoring was detected. Neuromonitoring was performed through bilateral cerebral oximetry. RESULTS: The analysis has shown no aortic dissection, neurological damage type 1 and myocardial ischemia in the study population. In 3 cases a distal displacement of the intra-aortic occlusion device was promptly detected by the combined use of echocardiographic imaging and by a drop of the right cerebral oximetry saturation and of the right radial artery pressure. CONCLUSIONS: The combined use of transesophageal simultaneous multi-plane three- dimensional echocardiography imaging, bilateral upper extremity invasive arterial pressure monitoring, aortic root pressure and cerebral oximetry is an effective, safe and reproducible method in patients undergoing minimally invasive valve surgery using an intra-aortic occlusion device.