Surgical Strategy for Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

We evaluated the surgical strategy for thoracic aortic aneurysm associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm. From January 1982 to March 1999, 24 consecutive patients underwent surgical treatment for thoracic aortic aneurysm with abdominal aortic aneurysm. Staged operation was performed if one was only slightly dilated, but extensive operation was needed if the size of both aneurysms was greater than 6cm. In cases of thoracic aortic aneurysm with abdominal aortic aneurysm up to 4cm in size, surgical treatment was performed only for the thoracic aortic aneurysm. Circulatory support during operation was established from the ascending aorta, and circulatory arrest with deep hypothermia and retrograde cerebral perfusion were used for brain protection during surgery for thoracic aortic arch aneurysm. Hospital mortality was 12.5% (3/24 cases). The causes of death were cerebral infarction and respiratory failure. Antegrade systemic perfusion and aortic no-touch technique were an effective method of surgery for thoracic aortic aneurysm with abdominal aortic aneurysm to avoid perioperative embolism and major complications. We successfully performed staged operation, but regular radiographic follow-up was needed.

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Patients with Severe Calcified Ascending Aorta with Aortic No-touch Technique / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

Coronary artery bypass grafting using hypothermic circulatory arrest and ventricular fibrillation without aortic cross clamping in 6 patients with severely calcified aortas is described. The use of hypothermic circulatory arrest or ventricular fibrillation has not been established in coronary artery bypass grafting. We recently used aortic no-touch technique in 6 patients. All patients were supported and cooled with cardiopulmonary bypass, and circulatory arrest was performed in 3 patients. With the exception of one hemodialysis patient, 5 patients survived without neurological deficit. We think the aortic no-touch technique is safe and reliable in coronary artery bypass grafting with severe calcified aortas.

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Cases of Calcified Ascending Aorta / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

The authors employed a modified CABG procedure to avoid cerebral infarction in cases of calcified ascending aorta. Among 348 cases of CABG surgery, we used the modified procedure in 14 cases (4%). The mean age was 66. Four patients had a history of previous stroke and one patient had arteriosclerosis obliterans. Our strategy is, (1) use femoral or aortic arch cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), (2) maximal use of <i>in-situ</i> arterial graft, (3) graft-coronary anastomosis under ventricular fibrillation (Vf) without aortic cross clamp, (4) proximal anastomosis of saphenous vein graft (SV), if used, was made at the arterial graft, otherwise direct anastomosis to the aorta was made under circulatory arrest. The internal thoracic artery (ITA) was used in 18 cases and the gastroepiploic artery (GEA) was used in 8 cases, SV was used in 4 cases. The mean Vf time was 48min and mean CPB time was 94min. The peak CPK was 805U and the peak CPK-MB was 52U. There was no significant difference between modified and conventional procedures in terms of operation time and myocardial protection. No cerebrovascular complication was noted with the modified procedure. In conclusion, the modified technique is safe for atherosclerotic-ascending aorta in CABG.

Perioperative Cerebral Infarction during or after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting / 日本心臓血管外科学会雑誌

A total of 961 patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) between 1982 and 1991, and we investigated perioperative cerebral infarction. The average age of operation in these case was 65±4 years. There was 9 patients with hypertension, 7 with diabetes mellitus and 5 with hyperlipidemia. Concerning cerebral infarction, there were 3 patients with multiple infarction, 6 with infarction of the mid cerebral artery area, 1 with infarction of posterior cerebral artery area, 1 with infarction of posterior cerebral artery area, 1 with infarction of pons and 1 with infarction of the ophthalmic artery. The courses of infarction involved atherosclerosis, hypoperfusion during cardiopulmonary bypass, thrombosis due to arterial fibrillation and thrombus on the left ventricular wall. Three patients who had critical cerebral infarction died after CABG. We consider that avoid perioperative cerebral infarction preoperative atherosclerosis, thrombus and to choose the proper procedure of the operation.