Nitric Oxide Inhalation and V-V ECMO for Severe Respiratory Failure after Acute Type A Aortic Dissection Surgery.

A 65-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with acute type B aortic dissection that extended into both common iliac arteries with an occluded right common iliac artery and large bullae in bilateral upper lung fields. Femoro-femoral arterial bypass surgery with an artificial blood vessel was performed. Two days postoperatively, acute type B aortic dissection progressed to acute type A aortic dissection. Emergency total arch graft replacement (TAR) was performed through a median sternotomy on the same day. Immediately following TAR, the patient experienced hypoxemia. Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was diagnosed following TAR for acute aortic dissection with pneumonia. Nitric oxide inhalation (NOI) therapy was commenced at 20 ppm from the fourth day post-surgery. However, 6 d following TAR, he developed bilateral pneumothorax due to ruptured bullae requiring chest tube management and thoracoscopic left upper lobe bullectomy. Eight days following TAR, veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) was initiated and NOI therapy was completed. V-V ECMO was withdrawn 18 d after TAR. Postoperatively, after 2 years 3 months, the patient remains ambulatory without assistance, walking to the outpatient clinic.

Actual incidence of cerebral infarction after thoracic endovascular aortic repair: a magnetic resonance imaging study.

OBJECTIVES: The actual incidence of cerebral infarction (CI), including asymptomatic infarction, owing to thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has not been reported in detail. This study was performed to investigate the incidence of post-TEVAR CI by using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and to determine the risk factors for both symptomatic and asymptomatic CI. METHODS: We examined 64 patients undergoing TEVAR at our institute between April 2017 and November 2020. Aortic atheroma was graded from 1 to 5 by preoperative computed tomography. Cerebral DW-MRIs were conducted 2 days after the procedure to diagnose postoperative CI. RESULTS: A total of 44 new foci were detected by post-interventional cerebral DW-MRI in 22 patients (34.4%). Only one patient developed a symptomatic stroke (1.6%), and TEVAR was successfully completed in all cases. Debranching of the aortic arch and left subclavian artery occlusion with a vascular plug was performed in 19 (29.7%) and 12 (18.8%) patients, respectively. The number of patients with proximal landing zones 0-2 was significantly higher in the CI group than in the non-CI group (68.2% vs 11.9%; P < 0.001). The following risk factors were identified for asymptomatic CI: aortic arch debranching (P < 0.001), left subclavian artery occlusion (P = 0.001) and grade 4/5 aortic arch atheroma (P = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: Over one-third of the patients examined by cerebral DW-MRI after TEVAR were diagnosed with CI. High-grade atheroma and TEVAR landing in zone 0-2 were found to be positively associated with asymptomatic CI. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: 02-014.

Free-floating thrombus of the aorta: 3 case reports.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic free-floating thrombus (FFT) of the aorta is a rare occurrence, but it can lead to catastrophic consequences. The initial symptoms are typically cerebral or peripheral embolisms. Surgical thrombectomy and thrombolysis are two primary treatments for FFT. Here, we report three cases of patients with idiopathic FFT in the absence of coagulopathy who were treated successfully by surgery with no recurrent thrombi or relapse of symptoms. CASE PRESENTATION: Case 1 involved a 72-year-old male patient with a pedunculated thrombus in the distal aortic arch. Case 2 involved a 62-year-old female patient with a cylinder thrombus in the aortic arch and left common carotid artery. Case 3 involved a 65-year-old male patient with three pedunculated thrombi in the ascending aorta, aortic arch, and left subclavian artery. None of the patients had clinical signs of coagulopathy. Pedunculated or cylinder thrombi have a greater risk of breaking off, which can produce severe peripheral embolism in contrast with intramural thrombi (73% vs. 12%). Due to the high embolism risk for each patient, conservative medical treatment by heparinization was deemed inappropriate, so each patient underwent emergency surgical thrombus removal. After surgery, each of the three patients was treated with warfarin for secondary prevention of thromboembolism. At 7-month follow-up in outpatient practice, a computed tomography (CT) scan indicated that Patient 1 had no recurrent thrombus, and the patient has been symptom-free for 11 months. At 1-month follow-up in outpatient practice, a CT scan indicated that Patient 2 had no recurrent thrombus, and the patient has been symptom-free for 8 years. At 3-week follow-up in hospital, a CT scan indicated that Patient 3 had no recurrent thrombus, but he failed to follow-up after discharge, so his follow-up status is unknown. CONCLUSIONS: For a large pedunculated or cylinder thrombus located in the thoracic aorta, surgical thrombectomy should be performed. And, in surgical thrombectomy, the location of the cannulas and cross-clamp should be selected carefully according to the location of the thrombus. After surgery, anticoagulant is important to prevent recurrent idiopathic thrombi.

Successful Endovascular Repair of an Aortobronchial Fistula due to Takayasu Arteritis.

Endovascular approaches to treating a diseased ascending aorta are challenging. We report the use of an endovascular occlusion device for successful closure of a ruptured penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer of an ascending aorta. A 47-year-old female patient with Takayasu arteritis complained of a worsening hemoptysis. She had a history of Bentall procedure for a sinus of Valsalva aneurysm and redo surgery for a ruptured penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer close to the distal anastomosis. She developed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) mediastinitis after the second procedure and required negative pressure wound therapy. Computed tomographic angiography revealed recurrence of a ruptured penetrating aortic ulcer and an aortobronchial fistula. Because of the high risk of redo sternotomy after MRSA mediastinitis, we used an endovascular occlusion device to achieve successful percutaneous closure. The patient was discharged without any complications. Postoperative computed tomography scans showed that the endovascular device was positioned without migration and that complete thrombosis of the penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer was achieved. This is the first report on endovascular repair of a ruptured penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer of the ascending aorta in Takayasu arteritis.

Non-ischaemic intramyocardial dissection following total arch replacement.

Intramyocardial dissection (ID) is a rare left ventricular (LV) disorder characterized by myocardial fibre dissection and neocavitation. In this study, we present a rare case of a 66-year-old woman who had a history of sarcoidosis with non-ischaemic ID following total arch replacement. ID developed suddenly in the free wall of the LV and expanded rapidly to form an LV aneurysm. We successfully performed LV reconstructive surgery to prevent ID rupture.

A Rare Solitary Fibrous Tumor Originating From the Distal Aortic Arch.

We report a 68-year-old man who presented with a well-circumscribed 6.9 × 6.5 × 3.6-cm tumor with a feeding vessel from the thyrocervical trunk in his left pleural cavity. The tumor was attached to the distal aortic arch, so he underwent a tumor resection with prosthetic graft replacement of the distal aortic arch. Pathological examination revealed a solitary fibrous tumor with potentially malignant features. To our knowledge, this is the first case of a solitary fibrous tumor arising from the aortic adventitia reported in the literature.

Modified 'candy-plug' technique for chronic type B aortic dissection with aneurysmal dilatation: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The original 'candy-plug' technique has been reported to be beneficial for the treatment of residual perfused false lumen in patients with aortic dissection. However, this technique is also associated with several problems, such as narrowing of the true lumen and damage to the flap or vessel wall. Therefore, we modified the procedure to overcome these problems. Here we report a case in which the patient was successfully treated using the modified procedure. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-year-old man presented with chronic type B aortic dissection with aneurysmal dilatation. The patient had undergone prosthetic graft replacement of the ascending aorta for acute type A aortic dissection 3 years previously and replacement of the descending aorta for residual type B aortic dissection with aneurysmal dilatation 1 year previously. After these procedures, the residual false lumen aneurysm of the distal descending aorta expanded to 57-mm in diameter. Endovascular stent grafting was successfully performed using the modified 'candy-plug' technique with relining of the true lumen and occlusion of the false lumen. The patient was discharged 10 days after the procedure. Follow-up imaging at 1 year showed a completely thrombosed false lumen aneurysm. CONCLUSION: The modified 'candy-plug' technique is useful for treatment of residual type B aortic dissection with aneurysmal dilatation.