Connecting hepatic vein and azygos vein by an autologous pericardial conduit to complete a Fontan procedure through a unilateral thoracotomy: A case report / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#We reported a case of a six-year-old boy diagnosed of single ventricle, pulmonary atresia and interrupted inferior vena cava. After modified Blalock-Taussig shunt and bidirectional Glenn procedure, he received the Fontan procedure. The Fontan procedure was done through a unilateral thoracotomy, using an autologous pericardial conduit to connect hepatic vein and azygos vein. The result of short-term follow-up was satisfactory.

A Case of Successful Valve Repair in Traumatic Aortic Regurgitation Associated with the Dilated Aortic Annulus / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

Here, we present a case of successful aortic valve repair of traumatic aortic regurgitation (AR). A man in his early twenties had a chest blunt trauma due to a bicycle accident 6 years earlier and suffered sternum fracture. He recovered without cardiovascular complications. Three months previously, a new diastolic murmur was detected on medical checkup. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) showed severe AR, and the left ventricular end-diastolic-/end-systolic dimension was 69/51 mm. Transesophageal echocardiography showed severe AR with perforation of the non-coronary cusp and dilatation of the aortic annulus (29.6 mm). Aortic valve repair was performed with an autologous pericardial patch and external suture annuloplasty. Postoperative TTE showed normal aortic valve function with trivial AR. He was discharged on postoperative day 11. Three months later, TTE showed trivial AR along with a reduced left ventricular dimension and improved left ventricular ejection fraction.

Autologous Pericardial Patch Closure for a Giant Right Coronary Artery Aneurysm with a Coronary Arteriovenous Fistula / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

A 53-year old female was noted to have an enlarged heart on a medical checkup. A multislice computed tomography study demonstrated a giant coronary artery aneurysm measuring 10 cm in diameter and a coronary arteriovenous fistula, both located below the left atrium. Resection of the aneurysm and ligation of the feeding arteries and arteriovenous fistula were performed under cardiopulmonary bypass. As the native coronary sinus was occluded, we reconstructed the vessels draining from the aneurysm into the right atrium with an autologous pericardial patch to preserve the coronary venous blood flow. To our knowledge this is the first report of an autologous pericardial patch being successfully used to reconstruct the coronary venous flow during surgical treatment of a giant coronary artery aneurysm with a coronary arteriovenous fistula.

Assessment of untreated fresh autologous pericardium as material for construction of heart valve: Result at 5 years

Introduction: Tetralogy of Fallot requiring transannular repair of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) are exposed to free pulmonary insufficiency and hence inevitable right ventricular dysfunction. This study analyzes the function and structure of untreated autologous pericardium monocusp used to create a competent pulmonary valve. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 52 cases operated between December 2006 and December 2012. Untreated autologous pericardium was used for creating a competent pulmonary valve following a transannular patch. They are followed for functional and structural assessment of the pulmonary valve by echocardiography. Positron emission tomography (PET) with 18 fluorodeoxyglucose was performed in two cases for profiling the pulmonary valve. Results: Median age was 10.5 years (1–38). The follow-up was complete for 42 (80.76%) patients for 3 years and 25 (48.07%) patients for 5 years. The RVOT gradient was 42 mmHg (16–96) in the year of surgery, which reduced to 26 mmHg (10–58) and pulmonary insufficiency that was present in 8.3% of patients in 1st year was witnessed in 22.7% in the 5th year of follow-up. The monocusp patch was successful in creating a competent valve while maintaining its structure at 3 years; however, it became distorted and retracted at 5 years of follow-up. There was no calcification in any of the patients. PET-computed tomography confirmed the uptake of glucose by monocusp at 1 year of follow-up. Conclusion: The untreated autologous pericardium functioned well when it was used to create a competent pulmonary valve at short term and midterm. Although it changed in its structure; there was no calcification at 5 years of follow-up.

Modified cone reconstruction in the treatment of Ebstein’s anomaly in 18 patients / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To investigate the early and mid-term clinical outcomes of the modified cone reconstruction in the treatment of Ebstein’s anomaly (EA). Methods    Clinical data of 18 consecutive patients with EA in our hospital between May 2008 and August 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. All patients were diagnosed by echocardiography. There were 8 males and 10 females with an average age of 20.3 years ranging from 5 to 41 years. According to New York Heart Association classification, 12 patients were classified into grade Ⅱ and 6 grade Ⅲ. One patient had acute arterial embolism and amputation of left lower extremity caused by paradoxical embolism of combined secundum atrial septal defect, and another one was combined with double-orifice technique due to postoperative poor closure of tricuspid valve. The modified cone reconstruction was used to correct the EA, to make leaflets coapted well and form central blood flow. For those patients whose anterior leaflet developed poor and smaller, valve leaflet was widened by using autologous pericardial. For all patients, tricuspid annulus was reinforced by autologous pericardial. Results    Two patients suffered arrhythmia, and returned to normal after medication. The rest patients recovered well without death. Echocardiography found 1 patient with moderate regurgitation and the rest of patients’ leaflets coapted well and had no tricuspid stenosis. They were followed up 9 to 38 months postoperatively, and cardiac function of gradeⅠin 14 patients and gradeⅡin 4 patients. Conclusion    The early and mid-term clinical outcomes of the modified cone reconstruction in the treatment of EA are affirmative which can make leaflets coapt completely and have a strong anti-regurgitation ability, reducing the incidence of re-operation, valve replacement and postoperative mortality.