[Calcified Amorphous Tumor Diagnosed After Stroke:Report of a Case].

Calcified amorphous tumor (CAT), a non-neoplastic tumor, is rare. Histopathologic features are the presence of calcified nodules in an amorphous background of fibrin. CAT is reported to be associated with renal dysfunction or hemodialysis, and possibly causes cerebral embolism. We report a case of CAT diagnosed after stroke. A 58-year-old male with a 2-year history of hemodialysis was diagnosed with an acute stroke, and was treated medically. Paralysis promptly improved, but transthoracic echocardiography revealed a tumor attached to the posterior mitral leaflet and dense mitral annular calcification. To prevent embolism due to the large tumor, we performed resection of the tumor. Pathological findings showed calcifications surrounded by amorphous fibrous tissue, indicating CAT. Postoperative course was uneventful.

Comparison of Phenotypes in Subcutaneous Fat and Perivascular Adipose Tissue Surrounding the Saphenous Vein in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

BACKGROUND: The saphenous vein (SV) is used as an essential conduit in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), but the long-term patency of SV grafts is a crucial issue. The use of the novel "no-touch" technique of harvesting the SV together with its surrounding tissue has been reported to result in good long-term graft patency of SV grafts. We recently showed that perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) surrounding the SV (SV-PVAT) had lower levels of metaflammation and consecutive adipose tissue remodeling than did PVAT surrounding the coronary artery. However, the difference between SV-PVAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) remains unclear.Methods and Results: Fat pads were sampled from 55 patients (38 men, 17 women; mean [±SD] age 71±8 years) with coronary artery disease who underwent elective CABG. Adipocyte size was significantly larger in SV-PVAT than SCAT. The extent of fibrosis was smaller in SV-PVAT than SCAT. There were no significant differences between SCAT and SV-PVAT in macrophage infiltration area, quantified by antibodies for CD68, CD11c, and CD206, or in gene expression levels of metaflammation-related markers. Expression patterns of adipocyte developmental and pattern-forming genes differed between SCAT and SV-PVAT. CONCLUSIONS: The properties of SV-PVAT are close to, but not the same as, those of SCAT, possibly resulting from inherent differences in adipocytes. SV-PVAT has healthy expansion with less fibrosis in fat than SCAT.

[Acute Coronary Syndrome in a Patient with Giant Coronary Artery Aneurysm:Report of a Case].

Coronary artery aneurysm is a rare entity defined as expansion more than 1.5 times of normal coronary artery in diameter. A 77-year-old male was admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome and a giant right coronary artery aneurysm. Coronary angiography showed occlusion of the right coronary artery and significant stenosis of left anterior descending artery and left circumflex artery. Enhanced computed tomography( CT) showed a right coronary artery aneurysm with a diameter of 38 mm. Urgent coronary artery bypass grafting and coronary artery ligation proximal and distal to the aneurysm were performed. His postoperative course was uneventful.

[Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma in Situ with Positive Findings in Pleural Lavage Cytology].

We report a rare case of positive findings in pleural lavage cytology(PLC) in the patient with pulmonary adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS). A 78-year-old woman was presented with a 30 mm pure groundglass nodule (GGN) in the left upper lobe on chest computed tomography (CT). After 2 years follow- up, thoracoscopic surgery was performed to resect the nodule. PLC was performed before pulmonary resection. Histopathological diagnosis was 25 mm AIS. However, PLC showed positive findings of malignant cells. CT examination at 1 year and 6 months postoperatively showed pleural dissemination findings and the patient died of lung cancer at 3 years and 2 months postoperatively. PLC's contribution to TNM staging has not yet been clarified. The positive findings in PLC and large size of pure GGN were considered likely to be poor prognostic indicators.

[Coronary Aneurysm with Fistula].

We successfully treated two rare cases of coronary aneurysm with fistula. Case 1;A 65-year-old female referred to our hospital with the coronary aneurysm and fistula. Right coronary aneurysm with fistula leading to coronary sinus was observed. Coronary bypass surgery using a saphenous vein to #4PD was performed, and two right ventricle branches were reconstructed. Coronary aneurysm was resected. Case 2;A 46-year-old male was admitted with chest discomfort. Coronary aneurysm with fistula from the left main trunk to left ventricle was demonstrated. Ligation of the coronary artery aneurysm and suture closure of the entry site to the left ventricle was performed. Both patients had uneventful recovery.

[Third Tricuspid Valve Replacement:Report of a Case].

A 79-year-old man underwent tricuspid valve replacement (TVR) with a bovine pericardial bioprosthesis, Carpentier-Edwards Perimount (CEP), for tricuspid regurgitation 27 years earlier. Twenty-one years after the first operation, he underwent re-TVR with a bovine pericardial bioprosthesis, Magna Mitral Ease, due to prosthetic valve dysfunction. Since the prosthetic valve dysfunction progressed again, the third TVR was performed six years after the second operation. The findings of the resected bioprosthesis showed sclerosis of the septal cusp, and pannus formation between the septal and posterior cusps. For the third TVR, the porcine bioprosthesis Epic was used. Neither transvalvular nor perivalvular leakage was observed postoperatively, and the patient was discharged without any complications.

[Papillary Fibroelastoma Arising from the Left Atrial Wall:Report of a Case].

Papillary fibroelastoma (PFE) is a rare benign cardiac tumor generally arising from the valvular endocardium. We report an extremely rare case of PFE arising from the left atrial wall. A 70-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of left atrial tumor. Echocardiography and enhanced computed tomography showed an approximately 14 mm mass on the left atrial wall. Moreover, the magnetic resonance imaging showed hyperintenseness on a T2-weighted image. We diagnosed the tumor as a myxoma. Intraoperatively, we found a mobile tumor on the left atrial wall. It had a sea anemone-like appearance and was suspected to be PFE. We performed the tumor resection including the left atrial wall. Histological examination confirmed PFE. His postoperative course was uneventful.

[Pulmonary Non-tuberculous Mycobacteriosis Complicated with Pulmonary Large Cell Neuroendocrine Carcinoma;Report of a Case].

A 64-year-old man with pulmonary non-tuberculous mycobacteriosis(pulmonary NTM) who had been treated by antituberculous chemotherapy, developed a new nodule of 8 mm in size in the segment 3 of the right upper lobe. The cavity of 4.0 cm in size in the segment 1+2 of the left upper lobe due to Mycobacterium avium infection was preexisted. Radiologically, new nodule of the right lung was suspected to be lung cancer. Left upper lobe apical trisegmentectomy was performed at first. Three months later, enlarging of the right lung nodule with increased fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose(FDG) activity was noted, and the diagnosis of lung cancer was made by transbronchial lung biopsy(TBLB). Then, right upper lobectomy with systematic nodal dissection were performed.

[Anterior Mediastinal Myxoid Liposarcoma Detected by Chest Computed Tomogram in the Patient with Pneumothorax].

A 57-year-old woman visited our hospital with left chest pain. Chest computed tomography (CT) scanning showed left pneumothorax with apical bullae and a nodular shadow in the left anterior mediastinum accidentally. However, a week later, we could not detect a mediastinal shadow on chest CT image after healing of left pneumothorax. Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery was scheduled in order to remove bullae and evaluate an anterior mediastinal lesion. The mediastinal lesion was tumorous and resected with around pericardial fat tissue. Pathological diagnosis was a myxoid liposarcoma of 15×10mm in size without infiltration into the surrounding tissue. The postoperative course was uneventful without recurrence 6 months later.

[Stanford Type A Aortic Dissection after Off-pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Using Automated Proximal Anastomotic Device;Report of a Case].

Operative mortality of Stanford type A aortic dissection( AAD) repair with previous cardiac surgery is high, especially with previous coronary artery bypass grafting. We report an extremely rare case of AAD related to the PAS-Port system. A 68-year-old male patient on dialysis was admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of AAD. Half a year before he had undergone off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting using PAS-Port system for a proximal anastomosis of a vein graft. Urgent graft replacement of the ascending aorta was performed, and the proximal anastomotic site of the vein graft was attached to the prosthetic graft. Intraoperative investigation revealed that an intimal tear was located on the anastomotic site made by the PAS-Port system. The postoperative course was uneventful and he has been visiting our hospital regularly for dialysis.

[Surgical Treatment for Mycotic Aortic Aneurysms].

Mycotic aortic aneurysms are relatively rare. Diagnosis and treatment may sometimes be difficult. We have treated 5 cases of mycotic aortic aneurysms in our institution. The patients were 4 males and 1 female with a mean age of 65.6±16.7 years old. All patients had vascular diseases and complained of fever. Preoperative blood cultures were positive in 4 cases. The strategy for treatment of mycotic aortic aneurysms consisted of removal of infective focuses as much as possible and revascularization using an artificial graft combined with omentopexy. Administration of antibiotics was continued for 6 months. All patients have been alive without recurrence of infections for a mean period of 22.6 months, which was considered to be an acceptable result. Artificial graft replacement combined with omentopexy and long-term administration of antibiotics is suggested to be useful for the treatment of mycotic aortic aneurysms.

[Therapeutic use of amiodarone against postoperative fibrillation after cardiac surgery].

We investigated the effect of amiodarone (AMD) administered intravenously for the treatment of post-operative atrial fibrillation( POAF) after cardiac surgery. After rapid administration of 150 mg for 10 minutes, AMD was administered in 1.0 mg per minute for 6 hours followed by 0.5 mg per minute for 18 hours. AMD was then administered orally 200 mg per day for 1 or 2 weeks. Twenty-five cases were enrolled from January 2010 to June 2013. In 18 cases(72%), the patients were successfully defibrillated by this protocol. In the other 7 cases, the patients required electrical defibrillation, but in 1 patient developed chronic atrial fibrillation. It was thought that AMD could be a choice for POAF.

[Treatment strategy for patients with simultaneous cardiac and malignant diseases].

The choice of treatment strategy for patients with simultaneous cardiac and malignant diseases is often debatable. We report 11 patients with simultaneous cardiac and malignant diseases who were hospitalized in our institution over the past 6 years. The patients were 9 males and 2 females with a mean age of 71.9±9.0 years old. There were 7 cases of ischemic heart disease( IHD), and 4 cases of valvular disease. Malignant diseases consisted of 4 cases of colon cancer, 2 cases of pulmonary cancer, 2 cases of hepatic cancer, and 1 case each of sigmoid colon cancer with liver metastasis, gallbladder cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Eight of the 11 cases(73%)were hospitalized because of a symptom associated with cardiac disease, and malignant disease was diagnosed incidentally during examination or treatment. Four of the IHD cases preceded coronary revascularization by off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Two of the valvular cases and 2 of the IHD cases underwent cardiac surgery after treatment of malignant diseases. In 3 cases, only 1 of the diseases was treated. Seven cases died of malignant diseases at the present. The choice of treatment strategy should be established for patients with simultaneous cardiac and malignant diseases in consideration of the severity of the cardiac disease and the expected prognosis of the malignant disease because there is no standardized method of treatment.

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on emergency medical system and management strategies in patients with acute coronary syndrome.

The global coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is associated with reduced rate of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, there were a few data showing how emergency medical system (EMS) and management strategies for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) changed during the pandemic. We sought to clarify changes on characteristics, treatments, and in-hospital mortality of patients with ACS transported via EMS between pre- and post-pandemic. We examined consecutive 656 patients with ACS admitted to Sapporo City ACS Network Hospitals between June 2018 and November 2021. The patients were divided into pre- and post-pandemic groups. The number of ACS hospitalizations declined significantly during the pandemic (proportional reduction 66%, coefficient -0.34, 95% CI -0.50 to -0.18, p < 0.001). The median time from an EMS call to hospital was significantly longer in post-pandemic group than in pre-pandemic group (32 [26-39] vs. 29 [25-36] min, p = 0.008). There were no significant differences in the proportion of patients with ACS receiving PCI, and in-hospital mortality between the groups. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on EMS and management in patients with ACS. Although a significant decline was observed in ACS hospitalizations, the proportion of patients with ACS receiving emergency PCI remained during the pandemic.

[Prophylactic use of amiodarone against postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery].

We investigated the effect of amiodarone on prevention of post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after cardiac surgery. Thirty cases of amiodarone (AMD) group including elective coronary artery bypass grafting and valve operation were enrolled from January 2007 to January 2010. The control (C) group consisted of 45 cases treated before 2007. Amiodarone was administered orally for the total of 14 days; 400 mg 7 days before the surgery, and a half dose after the surgery. POAF occurred significantly less in AMD group (4/30 : 13.3%) than in C group (13/45 : 28.9%) [p = 0.029]. With regard to duration of POAF, that of AMD group was significantly shorter than that of C group (16.0 hours vs 40.23 hours : p = 0.018). This research suggested that amiodarone might be effective in preventing POAF.

[On-pump beating coronary artery bypass grafting for the post-thoracoplasty patient with porcelain aorta; report of a case].

A 79-year-old post-thoracoplasty patient who had undergone coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) 20 years before was admitted to our hospital because of chest pain. Coronary angiogram showed occlusion of the both saphenous vein grafts. And the computed tomography revealed severe calcification of the ascending aorta. We performed on-pump beating CABG cannulating his femoral vessels and anastomosed bilateral internal thoracic artery grafts without manipulation of the ascending aorta. On-pump beating CABG is useful for the patients with past medical history of CABG.

Antiatherosclerotic Phenotype of Perivascular Adipose Tissue Surrounding the Saphenous Vein in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Background Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is associated with metabolically driven chronic inflammation called metaflammation, which contributes to vascular function and the pathogenesis of vascular disease. The saphenous vein (SV) is commonly used as an essential conduit in coronary artery bypass grafting, but the long-term patency of SV grafts is a crucial issue. The use of the novel "no-touch" technique of SV harvesting together with its surrounding tissue has been reported to result in good long­term graft patency of SV grafts. Herein, we investigated whether PVAT surrounding the SV (SV-PVAT) has distinct phenotypes compared with other PVATs of vessels. Methods and Results Fat pads were sampled from 48 patients (male/female, 32/16; age, 72±8 years) with coronary artery disease who underwent elective coronary artery bypass grafting. Adipocyte size in SV-PVAT was significantly larger than the sizes in PVATs surrounding the internal thoracic artery, coronary artery, and aorta. SV-PVAT and PVAT surrounding the internal thoracic artery had smaller extents of fibrosis, decreased gene expression levels of fibrosis-related markers, and less metaflammation, as indicated by a significantly smaller extent of cluster of differentiation 11c-positive M1 macrophage infiltration, higher gene expression level of adiponectin, and lower gene expression levels of inflammatory cytokines, than did PVATs surrounding the coronary artery and aorta. Expression patterns of adipocyte developmental and pattern-forming genes were totally different among the PVATs of the vessels. Conclusions The phenotype of SV-PVAT, which may result from inherent differences in adipocytes, is closer to that of PVAT surrounding the internal thoracic artery than that of PVAT surrounding the coronary artery or that of PVAT surrounding the aorta. SV-PVAT has less metaflammation and consecutive adipose tissue remodeling, which may contribute to high long-term patency of grafting when the no-touch technique of SV harvesting is used.

[Mitral regurgitation associated with essential thrombocythemia and gallbladder cancer].

A 64-year-old man with essential thrombocythemia was admitted to our hospital because of cardiac failure. Echocardiography revealed severe mitral regurgitation and a gallbladder tumor was detected incidentally by ultrasonography. Although the gallbladder tumor was strongly suspected to be malignant, we considered that the radical operation would be possible because of its early stage. After treatment of cardiac failure, cholecystectomy was performed. Pathological examination proved that the gallbladder tumor was malignant in T1N0M0 stage I. Afterwards, mitral valve plasty and maze operation were performed concomitantly. During the operation, activated coagulation time was kept over 400 sec with heparin. The operation was completed without major problems and the postoperative course was uneventful. The patient has not suffered from the recurrence of a gallbladder carcinoma or mitral regurgitation for 2 years.

[Aortic root replacement and pulmonary vein isolation; report of a case].

A 60-year-old female was admitted to our hospital who suffered from palpitation and dyspnea. Echocardiography revealed severe aortic regurgitation and enlargement of ascending aorta. Electrocardiogram showed tachycardia due to atrial fibrillation. We performed the aortic root replacement with Carboseal composite graft and pulmonary vein isolation using Cardioblate BiPolar (BP) system. Histopathologic diagnosis was giant isolated aortitis. The post operative course was uneventful. And the patient was discharged in normal sinus rhythm.

[Traumatic mitral regurgitation with acute pulmonary edema].

A case of a successful surgical treatment for traumatic mitral valve regurgitation is reported. A 44-year-old, small-statured female with cretinism had a traffic accident. Eleven days after the accident, she was admitted to our hospital with severe respiratory distress syndrome by acute pulmonary edema. Echocardiography showed severe mitral regurgitation due to tendon rupture of posterior leaflet. Mitral valve plasty was performed successfully.