ABSTRACT
A 66-year-old man was given a diagnosis of urinary-tract infection and hospitalized for 2 weeks in another hospital in late August 2009. In late October of that year he was transferred to our hospital by ambulance because he was unable to ingest anything orally. Echocardiography showed that a vegetation of about 10 mm in maximum dimension was attached to the aortic valve, causing severe aortic stenosis and regurgitation. The patient's general condition was poor, and sepsis and disseminated intravascular coagulation syndrome developed. The next day, an urgent operation was performed, and an abscess was observed occupying one-third of the aortic valve annulus. The abscess was completely excised and the abscess cavity was covered with an equine pericardium patch. We then performed aortic valve replacement using a bioprosthetic valve followed by tricuspid valve annuloplasty. <i>Peptostreptococcus </i>spp. was detected in a culture of the abscess. Infective endocarditis due to <i>Peptostreptococcus </i>spp. is rare. There has been no recurrence of infection for 7 months postoperatively.
ABSTRACT
A 78-year-old woman who had had chest pain since 3 days previously, was given a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Emergency coronary angiography revealed mid-left anterior descending artery and proximal right coronary artery lesions. Percutaneous coronary intervention was performed, and re-perfusion was successful. Cardiac tamponade was then diagnosed. Despite pericardial drainage, she remained in shock. After an intra-aortic balloon pump was established, an emergency operation was performed. On the operating table, her pulse disappeared. When thoracotomy was performed, a viscous hematoma was found in the pericardium. We found 3 ruptures in the left ventricular free wall, and hemorrhage. The diagnosis was a blow-out type left ventricular free wall rupture of the heart (LVFWR). We have used the patches-and-glue sutureless technique without cardiopulmonary support. This treatment for blow-type of LVFWR is rare.
ABSTRACT
The patient was a 58-year-old woman with untreated diabetes. She consulted a local doctor in May 2006 complaining of constipation that had persisted for 2 weeks, under gradually worsening abdominal pain. She was transferred to our hospital with a diagnosis of aortic aneurysm. Blood tests indicated high inflammatory response, and CT showed hematoma around the aorta from directly under the diaphragm to the level of superior mesenteric artery and influx of contrast medium into the hematoma. Control of the infection was first attempted with antibiotics, but eventually surgery was performed because the hematoma increased. The hematoma and aortic wall were completely excised from the local of the diaphragm to the level beneath the renal artery, with partial cardiopulmonary bypass and selective perfusion to abdominal branches, and anatomic reconstruction was performed with a synthetic graft and omental implantation. The hematoma was fetid and Citrobacter koseri was detected in culture. The patient was discharged after 4 weeks of antibiotic treatment, without complications and with satisfactory progress. At present, there has been no recurrence of infection in the 22 months since her discharge.
ABSTRACT
A 33-year-old man presented with respiratory distress and lower leg edema in April 2006. Atrial septal defect (ASD), complicated with moderate mitral regurgitation (MR), advanced tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and pulmonary hypertension (95/32mmHg), was diagnosed. Qp/Qs was 6.3 and L-R shunt ratio was 84.4%. An “edge-to-edge” mitral valve plasty for MR complication as well as closure of the septal defect and tricuspid annuloplasty was performed, and a good result was obtained. It is known that ASD has a tendency to be accompanied by MR, and the strategy for treatment course for MR is debatable. The mitral lesions of MR complicating ASD are often seen in the posteromedial side of the anterior mitral leaflet, and usually many of the tendinous cords and valve leaflets are in the normal range in length. There have been reports on the mid-term results of edge-to-edge repair of mitral regurgitation due to degenerative lesions but the mid- and long-term results for MR complicating ASD, such as this case are unknown. We need to carefully observe the time course of this case.
ABSTRACT
We report a case of mitral regurgitation due to an atypical variant of Fabry disease. A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital. He had a history of myocardial infarction and heart failure, and was repeatedly admitted for worsening heart failure (NYHA class II to III). A follow-up echocardiogram revealed deteriorating dilated cardiomyopathy and mitral regurgitation. We performed valvuloplasty for mitral regurgitation. Cardiomyopathy was suspected during the operation and myocardial biopsy was performed. We diagnosed Fabry disease by histopathological findings. After the operation, his heart failure temporarily improved. Heart failure worsened 4 months later. He died of heart failure a year later from the operation. Fabry disease (α-galactosidase-A deficiency) is an inherited metabolic disease. In Fabry disease, angina, myocardial infarction, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, dilated cardiomyopathy, and mitral regurgitation are common cardiac manifestations. Recently, an atypical variant of Fabry disease, with manifestations limited to the heart, has been increasingly reported. This case suggested that we might encounter Fabry disease with only cardiac manifestations such as cardiomyopathy and valvular disease in routine clinical work.
ABSTRACT
We encountered an instructive case of anterolateral papillary muscle rupture after acute myocardial infarction. A 73-year-old woman with rapidly progressive dyspnea came to our emergency room. Her symptoms associated with acute heart failure rapidly worsened. We diagnosed anterolateral papillary muscle rupture after acute myocardial infarction due to occlusion of the first diagonal branch, based on transesophageal echocardiogram and coronary angiography. We immediately performed mitral valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to the diagonal branch. Although she required postoperative intraaortic balloon pumping (IABP) and percutaneous cardiopulmonary support (PCPS), she eventually recovered. Mitral papillary muscle rupture causes rapidly deteriorating hemodynamics and requires surgical treatment. Because of a serious complication of myocardial infarction, this case emphasizes that early diagnosis and aggressive treatment are required for mitral papillary muscle rupture.
ABSTRACT
The extremely rare occurrence of a case of spontaneous rupture of the aortic arch is reported. The patient was a 55-year-old woman who underwent a medical examination at a hospital following a sudden onset of chest pain. After a diagnosis of having cardiac tamponade was established, she was transferred to our hospital. She was in a state of shock with systolic blood pressure recorded at 70mmHg. Computerized tomographic findings indicated cardiac tamponade and hematoma around the ascending aortic arch but no aortic dissection. She was diagnosed as having a ruptured aortic arch and an emergency operation was performed. Apertures were observed on the anterior arch and were closed by a suture under halted circulation. Transesophageal echography was used to correctly identify the aperture on the rupture during the operation. Pathologic findings also indicated only extramural hematoma on the ascending aortic arch without the dissection. The patient's postoperative progress was satisfactory, and she was discharged after spending 16 days in the hospital. Spontaneous rupture of the thoracic aorta is extremely rare; it cannot be accurately diagnosed and leads to poor prognosis. Even in a case without trauma and aortic aneurysm, this disease should be diagnosed through rapid and detailed examination using computed tomography, and aggressive surgical treatment should be performed.
ABSTRACT
Between 1987 and 2002, 22 internal iliac artery aneurysms in 14 patients were repaired. In 13 we performed aneurysm excision or reconstruction. There were 3 cases in which simple proximal ligation of the internal iliac artery was performed; in 2 of these CT scans confirmed that the reduction of the internal iliac artery aneurysms was not recognized, but blood flow was not shown in the aneurysm. However, 6 years postoperatively 1 patient was confirmed with an expansion of the aneurysm, and blood flow was seen on a CT scan. In the 2 latest patients, the blood pressure of the internal iliac artery was measured before and after proximal clamping of the internal iliac artery, but the blood pressure of aneurysms could not be fully lowered by proximal ligation of the internal iliac artery. Therefore, endoaneurysmorrhaphy seemed to be the operative method of choice for treatment of the internal iliac artery aneurysms.