A Case of Right Pulmonary Artery-Left Atrial Communication with Brain Abscess / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

Right pulmonary artery-left atrial communication is a rare congenital heart disease that is usually diagnosed before adulthood, and its main symptoms are cyanosis and dyspnea on exertion. We report a 51-year-old man with a large aneurysm of the right pulmonary artery and left atrial communication, which was diagnosed after a brain abscess. We are concerned that simple ligation alone may cause embolism, so we report on the use of an autologous pericardial patch to close the opening to the left atrium.

Chronic Expanding Hematoma with Constrictive Pericarditis / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

We report the successful treatment of a rare case of chronic expanding hematoma and visceral pericardium thickening constrictive pericarditis with no history of trauma or surgery. A 70-year-old woman, who had no history of trauma or surgery was admitted for exertional dyspnea. An echocardiographic study demonstrated a mass located anterior to the right ventricle that severely compressed the right ventricle toward the ventricular septum. Enhanced chest computed tomography demonstrated pericardial calcification and a 125-mm heterogeneous mass in the middle mediastinum. A mosaic pattern was seen on T1, T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Surgical resection of the mass and removal of the visceral pericardium were planned to treat heart failure and to confirm the diagnosis of the mass. The mass was old degenerated coagula. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of chronic expanding hematoma. The postoperative course was uneventful. There has been no sign of recurrence 19 months after the operation.

A Case of Bilateral Coronary Ostial Aneurysms and an Aortic Root Pseudoaneurysm after a Modified Bentall Procedure with the Button Technique / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

A 62-year-old man with Marfan syndrome had a modified Bentall procedure and total arch replacement for annuloaortic ectasia, aortic insufficiency and thoracic aortic aneurysm fifteen years ago at another hospital. A follow-up CT revealed bilateral coronary artery aneurysms and an aortic root pseudoaneurysm, and thus he was referred to our hospital. The previous prosthetic valve was removed, followed by the re-Bentall procedure. Coronary artery aneurysms were resected and consequently coronary arteries were reconstructed directly. Although the shortcoming of the Bentall procedure was pseudoaneurysm, the outcomes of the modified Bentall procedure have shown some improvements. However, as there is still a high risk of postoperative complication in connective tissue diseases, long-term follow-up is required.