ABSTRACT
Aortic dissection presents with acute chest or back pain. However, it can be asymptomatic in the acute phase with delayed symptomatic presentation or incidental diagnosis upon chest imaging. We report a case of acute type B aortic dissection subsequent to chronic type A aortic dissection which was difficult to distinguish from acute type A aortic dissection. A 45-year-old man was admitted to a hospital with sudden back pain. An enhanced chest CT revealed a suspected acute type A aortic dissection. The patient was transferred to our hospital and we performed an emergent total arch replacement. Intraoperative findings showed that there were two entries at the origin of the brachiocephalic artery and the left subclavian artery. The ascending aorta presented wall thickening but the descending aorta did not present wall thickening. Histopathologically, the adventitia was obviously thickened with dissection findings in the tunica media. Thus it was diagnosed as acute type B aortic dissection subsequent to chronic type A aortic dissection. Great caution should be taken in asymptomatic chronic aortic dissection.
ABSTRACT
Entrapment of an intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS) catheter is an infrequent but serious complication associated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We report a case of successful surgical treatment of an IVUS catheter entrapped in a coronary stent after PCI. An-80-year-old man was admitted to a hospital with sudden anterior chest pain. He underwent PCI to left circumflex branch (Cx) and left anterior descending artery (LAD), followed by IVUS to ascertain stent expansion of the LAD stent. The IVUS catheter became entangled in the stent and could not be withdrawn from the outside. The patient was transferred to our hospital for its surgical removal. For the emergent surgery, we opened the stent region in the LAD and directly removed the IVUS catheter with the twisted stent. The opened place in the LAD was directly closed. Additional coronary bypass grafting involving two vessels was performed. The postoperative course was uneventful with no graft occlusion.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most common form of primary glomerulonephritis worldwide. Tonsillectomy plus steroid pulse therapy has been able to induce clinical remission in early-stage IgAN. However, its possible effect on systemic and local cytokines and tubular markers has not been fully investigated. METHODS: We obtained serum and urine samples from 38 patients just before renal biopsy and third steroid pulse therapy. Markers of tubular damage such as N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase, and kidney injury molecule-1 and inflammation such as interleukin (IL)-6, monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 were measured by immunoassay. RESULTS: Before renal biopsy, only urinary inflammatory markers, except MCP-1, were associated with glomerular (proteinuria) and/or tubular damage markers. Proteinuria, hematuria, and estimated glomerular filtration rate dramatically improved after therapy. In addition, levels of serum IL-6 and ICAM-1 and all urinary markers declined significantly; however, serum MCP-1 and VCAM-1 levels did not. None of the urinary markers correlated with the serum inflammatory markers. CONCLUSION: Tonsillectomy plus steroid pulse therapy for patients with IgAN might be useful for improving not only glomerular damage marker but also tubular damage markers through the improvement of local renal inflammation.
Subject(s)
Humans , Biopsy , Cytokines , Glomerular Filtration Rate , Glomerulonephritis , Glomerulonephritis, IGA , Hematuria , Immunoassay , Immunoglobulin A , Inflammation , Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 , Interleukin-6 , Interleukins , Kidney , Monocytes , Proteinuria , Tonsillectomy , Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1ABSTRACT
A 37-year-old man had been hospitalized at another hospital where he was being treated for encephalitis. Early one morning, the patient had sudden precordial chest pain and dyspnea, so he was examined further. Contrast-enhanced CT revealed filling defects in both pulmonary arteries and in the right and left atria, indicating acute pulmonary embolism. Cardiac ultrasound revealed thrombi floating in the right and left atria, and the patient displayed pulmonary hypertension (estimated pressure : 50 mmHg). Since scattering of thrombi in the left atrium carried the risk of arterial embolism, emergency surgery was performed at this hospital. An incision was made in the right atrium with the heart stopped, revealing a tubular thrombus trapped in the foramen ovale. The trapped thrombus was completely removed, and the patient's life was saved since arterial embolism, e.g. paradoxical cerebral embolism, did not occur. This case involved a rare pathology and is thus reported here together with a discussion of the literature.
ABSTRACT
A 64-year-old man who underwent aortic valve replacement with a 25mm Bjork-Shiley valve in 1993 began to have severe anemia and required repeated transfusions by November 2003. Doppler echocardiography showed only mild aortic regurgitation, but revealed turbulent flow around the mechanical valve. Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) was diagnosed and he was treated with prednisolone (PSL) starting May 2004. Because of unremitting hemolysis requiring multiple transfusions and the occurrence of renal dysfunction, he underwent rereplacement of the aortic valve with a 25-mm Freestyle valve. His hemolysis and general condition immediately improved. This case suggests the possibility that mild regurgitant jet and turbulent jet stress can cause severe hemolysis when AIHA develops.
ABSTRACT
A 56-year-old man was admitted with fever of unknown origin and congestive heart failure. Blood cultures grew <i>Streptococcus gordonii</i>. An echocardiographic examination showed vegetation attached to the bicuspid aortic valve and severe aortic regurgitation. Despite the aggressive therapy, an emergency operation had to be performed because it was otherwise impossible to control heart failure. Vegetation was attached to the aortic valve leaflets. There was no noticeable lesion on the aortic annulus, but a myocardial abscess was noted in the left atrial wall. Aortic valve replacement was performed after the myocardial abscess was drained. It was assumed that the myocardial abscess was due to the septic state from Infective endocarditis because it was recognized at a distant zone from the active valvular infection.
ABSTRACT
A 44-year-old man underwent implantation of a DDD pacemaker for third degree heart block at age 20. The cutaneous pocket for the pulse generator was situated in the left pectoral region. He visited our hospital because of skin ulcer over the pacemaker without any other complaint such as fever or pain. The patient received a new DDD pacemaker system in the right pectoral region and old pacing leads were translocated under the pectoral muscle. However, right pectoral skin ulcer appeared 1 month later. Patch tests revealed a positive reaction to silicon. Wrapping of the pacemaker with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sheet proved to be effective.
ABSTRACT
We report 4 cases of delayed hypersensitivity reaction to Vancomycin (VCM) after cardiac surgery. Case 1: A patient developed sepsis and mediastinitis after aortic valve replacement (AVR) for aortic valve insufficiency. Case 2: A patient developed mediastinitis after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for effort angina pectoris. Case 3: A patient developed pneumonia after AVR for aortic valve infective endocarditis. Case 4: A patient developed sepsis after CABG for acute myocardial infarction. All of them received VCM intravenously and their infections improved. However, sudden high fever, skin rush and eosinophilia occurred 12 or 13 days after the initiation of therapy. These symptoms resolved after halting VCM administration. We need to take examine eosinophils when considering further administration of VCM.
ABSTRACT
A 62-year-old man suddenly felt severe back pain. An enhanced computed tomography (CT) demonstrated an acute Stanford type B dissection and the true lumen was severely compressed by the false lumen. We started conservative therapy because there was no sign of organ ischemia. A 23 days from onset, he developed bilateral limb ischemia and renal failure because the compression of the true lumen increased. After bilateral axillo-femoral bypass the organ ischemia disappeared. Four months later, CT showed the dilatation of the true lumen and occlusion of the bilateral grafts. In spite of graft occlusion, there was no sign of organ ischemia.
ABSTRACT
Fatal intestinal necrosis developed following off-pump CABG and implantation of a bifurcated vascular prosthesis in a 70-year-old man with unstable angina pectoris and abdominal aortic aneurysm. A CT scan with three-dimensional reconstruction (3D-CT), showed no narrowing or obstruction of the SMA. The patient was scheduled to undergo an extensive resection of the intestine on the 23rd postoperative day. The pathological diagnosis was nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI). He died of multiple organ failure on the 38th postoperative day. Early diagnosis of NOMI is essential to lower mortality and postoperative morbidity. Invasive angiography is the gold standard in diagnosis. 3D-CT, a non-invasive method, is an increasingly useful technique, which may allow identification of vascular anatomy and pathology with sufficient detail for diagnosis. Several other causes of acute abdomen, other than mesenteric ischemia, can be ruled out. Therefore, 3D-CT might be useful in screening for NOMI.
ABSTRACT
The patient was a 75-year-old man who was referred due to hematuria. CT revealed bladder carcinoma 8cm in length, a 5-cm aneurysm of the abdominal aorta and a 3-cm aneurysm of the left common iliac artery. He was referred to our hospital for the treatment of bladder carcinoma and aneurysms. We simultaneously performed Y graft replacement, radical cystectomy and bilateral cutaneous ureterostomy. His postoperative course was uneventful, without any prosthetic infection.
ABSTRACT
A 51-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for investigation of an abnormal ECG. Transesophageal echocardiogram revealed a round mass which originated from the right coronary cusp of the aortic valve. The tumor was successfully excised from the aortic valve, and the postoperative echocardiogram showed normal aortic valve function. Pathological examination demonstrated papillary fibroelastoma.
ABSTRACT
A 60-year-old woman underwent surgical treatment of postinfarction ventricular septal perforation (VSP) in the early phase after receiving total cardiopulmonary bypass without aortic occlusion. VSP developed four days after anterior myocardial infarction. On admission, inraaortic balloon pumping was used to obtain hemodynamic stabilization. On the day of admission, emergency total cardiopulmonary bypass was performed. VSP was closed with a Dacron felt patch positioned on the left side of the septum. The anterior wall of the left ventricle was closed with Dacron felt strips and reinforced using a Gore-Tex sheet. Postoperative hemodynamics improved significantly. Although the operation while the heart was beating was difficult technically, the total cardiopulmonary bypass time of this method was not longer than that of operations under cardioplegic arrest. Further more, the area of infarction was easily distinguished by color and bleeding. The surgery during normothermic heart beat was effective in preventing further ischemia of the myocardium. The surgical treatment of VSP in the early phase during normothermic heart beat under total cardiopulmonary bypass was considered to be more effective and safer than operations under cardioplegic arrest.
ABSTRACT
A 51-year-old male, who had undergone aortic valve replacement (BS27A) 13 years ago, was admitted with a sudden onset of cerebral stroke and SVC syndrome. Computed tomography and aortography revealed aneurysmal dilatation and dissection of the ascending thoracic aorta with occlusion of the superior vena cava and the right pulmonary artery. A modified Collins procedure was performed and the postoperative course was uneventful.