Hybrid Repair of a Saccular Aortic Arch Aneurysm Ruptured in the Left Pulmonary Bronchus.

The rupture of aortic arch aneurysm is rare but serious and a life-threatening pathologic condition. We report a case of an 80-year-old woman who was admitted to our department for a rupture of a saccular aortic arch aneurysm in the left pulmonary bronchus. There was no landing zone in the aortic arch. First, we performed a total supra-aortic debranching and a bifurcated graft bypass from the ascending aorta to both the innominate artery and the left carotid artery. Then, we implanted in the aortic arch an endoprosthesis covering the origin of all supra-aortic trunks. Final angiography was satisfactory. The patient died 8 days later due to pulmonary-originated septic shock. Aortic arch hybrid procedures show a variety of severe complications associated with a relevant morbidity, mortality, and reintervention rate. Prognosis of rupture depends not only on the hemorrhage caused but also on the potential infection.

An alternative technique for Fontan completion in patients with widely separated connections of the inferior systemic veins to the atrial mass.

Several surgical approaches for completion of a total cavopulmonary connection have been established for patients with anomalies of systemic venous connection in association with a functionally univentricular heart. We report an alternative technique designed to address the problem of widely separated inferior systemic veins, in which two extracardiac conduits were used. This technique was performed on three patients and yielded excellent short-term results, allowing us to operate on a beating heart with no need for cardioplegic arrest and aortic cross-clamping.

Place of endovascular repair in the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

AIM: Open repair for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has a significant morbidity and mortality. Since the introduction of endovascular techniques, much progress has been made. The aim of this study is to clarify the feasibility and the results of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) in short and middle terms. METHODS: Between 2008 and 2015, 14 patients underwent EVAR. The average age was 65 years. Comorbidities were found in 7 patients. It was coronary artery disease in 3 cases and severe respiratory failure in 4 cases. The aneurysm was atherosclerotic in 12 cases and inflammatory in 2 cases. The average length of the proximal neck was 29 mm. The mean aneurysm diameter was 65mm. A bifurcated stent graft has been deployed in 12 cases and an aorto-mono-iliac stent graft was deployed in 2 cases. RESULTS: Immediate technical success was achieved in 13 patients. Immediate surgical conversion was performed in 1 case. The average hospital stay was 5 days. We haven't deployed any early death. After a mean follow-up of 3 years, we deployed 3 late deaths; two deaths were not related to the aneurysm and one death was secondary to rupture of the aneurysm caused by a proximal stent graft migration. CONCLUSION: EVAR is actually a therapeutic increasingly used. Its results, especially late, are still being evaluated. Meanwhile, its indications must be selective.

A True Distal Brachial Artery Aneurysm Treated with a Bifurcated Saphenous Vein Graft.

Brachial artery aneurysms are rare, mostly consisting of false ones secondary to infectious, traumatic, or iatrogenic arterial lesions. True aneurysms of the brachial artery are even more uncommon. Here, we report a case of a 40-year-old fisherman, without any pathological antecedent, who presented with a painful pulsatile mass of the left anterior arm. There was a slight edema with no ischemic signs. The computed tomographic angiography revealed a true 3.7 × 4.2 × 6 cm aneurysm of the distal brachial artery, partially thrombosed, which extended to the bifurcation. A surgical repair was indicated. Intervention consisted of an aneurysmectomy with interposition of an autologous reversed bifurcated saphenous vein graft. Early outcome was good and a 1-year follow-up showed a patent graft with no aneurysmal recurrence. A review of the literature on this rare location of true artery aneurysm and treatment options is outlined in this work.

Reoperation after modified Björk procedure for tricuspid atresia.

Rarely performed nowadays, the Björk procedure is an alternative to the Fontan palliation for biventricular repair in patients with tricuspid atresia. The right atrium to right ventricle conduit failure leads to serious long-term complications. The management of such patients at high surgical risk remains challenging. We report a successful reoperation in a young adult 25 years after the modified Björk intervention, who presented with severely narrowed and calcified valved conduit.

Multiple arterial coronary artery bypass grafting : perioperative complications, clinical and angiographic evolution.

BACKGROUND: Multiple arterial coronary artery bypass grafting is a controversial surgical procedure that is still uncommon worldwide. The aim of our study was to determine the outcomes and perioperative complications of the multiple arterial myocardial revascularization and their predictive factors, the mid-term and long term clinical and angiographic prognosis of the studied patients. METHODS: This was a single center study of the cardiovascular department of The Rabta hospital. Patients included had serial multiple arterial coronary artery bypass grafting between January 2008 and December 2014. A statistical univariate and multivariate analysis had been conducted to identify complications and their predictive factors and a Kaplan-Meier study was done for the clinical and angiographic late outcomes. RESULTS: We included 322 patients mean aged 58 years, sex-ratio was 7.7 with a preserved left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) in 68.94% of cases. On-pump 1109 bypasses were made, among them 788 arterial grafts were used. Left internal thoracic artery (LIMA) was used in 100% of patients. Patency of the LIMA was 100%, 94.7%, 91.6% and 73.3% at 1, 3, 5 and 8 years respectively. RIMA (right internal thoracic artery) was used in 87.2% of patients, anastomosed to the left coronary system via the Theile sinus, anastomosed to the LIMA to make a Y shape configuration, or anastomosed in situ to the right coronary artery. Its patency was 98.3%, 86.2%, 68% and 57.9%. There was no significance between configuration patencies except the RIMA anastomosed to the lateral braches of the circumflex artery (p=0.003). Early mortality was 5.9 %, its main predictors were post operative intra aortic balloon pump (OR=22.18), re intervention for bleeding (OR=30.57), post operative myocardial infarction (OR=29.49), aortic clamping >= 60 minutes (OR=10.89), post operative high level of catecholamine (OR=9.1) and mediastinitis (OR=7.15). Main early complications were pulmonary infection (20.2%), acute renal failure (5.3%) and mediastinitis (5%). Data of long term following could be collected only in 39.4% of cases. Major Adverse Cardiologic and Cerebral Events (MACCE) occurred in 30.71% controlled patients. Free-MACCE survival was 52.9% at 5. Initially total arterial bypass grafting was superior to other configurations in free-MACCE survival (p=0.036) but we lost significance beyond 5-years following because of selection bias. CONCLUSION: Multi arterial coronary artery bypass grafting was secure in early morbidity and mortality. Long term prognosis seemed to be better in case of total arterial revascularization.

[Relevant factors in mitral valve reconstructive surgery. Report of 150 cases]. / Les facteurs determinants dans la chirurgie reconstructrice de la valve mitrale. A propos de 150 cas.

150 patients had mitral valve repair for mitral valve incompetence. There were 57 males and 93 females with a mean age of 22 years, 39% were less than 15 years of age. 60% of the patients were in Class II NYHA and 40% in Class III and IV. According to Carpentier's classification, isolated type I was present in 18 patients (12%), type II in 98 patients (64%) and type III in 34 cases (24%). Mitral repair included correction of valve prolapse, valvular enlargement with pericardial patch and annuloplasty with semi-rigid ring in 128 cases and PTFE patch along the posterior leaflet in 12 cases. The perioperative mortality rate was 2.6% (4 patients). All patients had early post-operative echocardiography. According to this, mitral regurgitation was absent or tiny in 135 patients (92%), grade II in 10 cases and grade III in 2 cases. It was moderate or important in twelve patients (8%). In the late post-operative period, three patients were lost to follow-up. All the others patients were reoperated upon for mitral dysfunction in a mean time of 37 months. The reason for reoperation was in the majority of the cases the recurrence of mitral regurgitation related to increase of valvular and sub valvular disease. The late mortality rate is 7% (10 patients). Out of 126 reviewed survivors on the long run, 71 patients (56%) are asymptomatic in class I, 53 patients (42%) in class II and 2 patients in class III NYHA. Mitral valvuloplasty is the preferred procedure in mitral insufficiency surgical management. It is associated to a low early mortality and morbidity rate. Despite the need for reoperation in about 10% of the cases in the long follow-up, mitral repair offers a good quality of life without anticoagulant treatment.