Takotsubo cardiomyopathy triggered by frequent psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: A case report.

Background: Coexistence of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures has rarely been reported. Herein, we report a case of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy triggered by psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Case Presentation: A 50-year-old woman with a 22-year history of dissociative and panic disorders and a 7-year history of seizures increasing in frequency was admitted due to cardiogenic shock. Based on the left ventriculography and electroencephalography findings, she was diagnosed with Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and psychogenic nonepileptic seizures. Seizures were controlled using antipsychotic agents, resulting in improved cardiac function, and she was discharged. However, she died of cardiopulmonary arrest 9 days after discharge. Conclusion: Since controlling psychogenic epileptic seizures is difficult, Takotsubo cardiomyopathy triggered by psychogenic nonepileptic seizures may have poor prognosis, requiring careful management and close monitoring.

Simultaneous surgical correction of pectus excavatum and cardiac disease in two adults.

Thoracic reconstruction in patients with pectus excavatum with concomitant cardiac or aortic surgery poses a major clinical challenge. The report describes two cases of adult patients undergoing simultaneous surgical correction of cardiac disease and sternal deformity using one of two different techniques: a sterno-turnover method preserving the rectus muscle or a sternal elevation method with A-O plates.

Olprinone, phosphodiesterase III inhibitor, is useful for patients with severe acute heart failure due to takotsubo cardiomyopathy accompanied by subarachnoid hemorrhage.

CASE: A 53-year-old woman with coma was diagnosed with subarachnoid hemorrhage and ruptured aneurysm at the right internal carotid-posterior communicating artery. OUTCOME: The aneurysm was successfully clipped. Severe hypoxia and shock with abnormal left ventricular contraction were observed. We diagnosed severe acute heart failure with cardiogenic shock due to takotsubo cardiomyopathy complicated by subarachnoid hemorrhage. Neither catecholamine nor intra-aortic balloon pumping was selected to treat severe acute heart failure with cardiogenic shock because catecholamine generally worsens takotsubo cardiomyopathy and hematoma after surgery. Therefore, we gave olprinone and improved hypoxia and hemodynamics immediately without any arrhythmia. CONCLUSION: Olprinone was effective for severe acute heart failure with cardiogenic shock due to takotsubo cardiomyopathy accompanied by subarachnoid hemorrhage. Catecholamine agents should be avoided if possible in patients with takotsubo cardiomyopathy. A phosphodiesterase III inhibitor may be useful for cardiogenic shock caused by takotsubo cardiomyopathy.

Right atrial lipomatous hypertrophy resection and reconstruction using autologus pericardium.

We report a case of lipomatous hypertrophy, which is a relatively uncommon entity. The patient presented with premature atrial conduction and echocardiography showed a large intracardiac mass in the right atrium. He underwent successful resection of the mass with septal reconstruction using autologous pericardium. Pathological examination revealed benign fatty infiltration suggestive of benign lipomatous hypertrophy.

Revival of continuous suture technique in aortic valve replacement in patient with aortic valve stenosis: a novel modified technique.

OBJECTIVE: : The continuous suture technique has numerous advantages as simple, quick, and effective for aortic valve replacement; however, it is technically difficult. We have modified the continuous suture technique and evaluated our new technique in patients with aortic stenosis. METHODS: : Between July 2007 and May 2010, 86 patients with aortic valve stenosis underwent aortic valve replacement alone or with other concomitant cardiac procedures including mitral valve surgery in our hospital. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: group A (n = 43) in which the continuous suture technique with some modifications was used and group B (n = 43) in which the conventional interrupted suture technique was used. There were no statistical differences between two groups in age, sex, body surface area, concomitant cardiac procedures, blood loss, and postoperative extubation time. RESULTS: : The aortic cross-clamp time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, operation time, and hospital stay were significantly shorter in group A than that in group B, and the valve size was significantly larger in group A. No perivalvular leak was detected in postoperative echocardiograms. All patients recovered satisfactorily without complications associated with suture technique or prosthesis. During follow-up of 4 to 38 months, there were no clinically significant complications in group A, while one patient in group B developed perivalvular leakage requiring reoperation 3 months after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: : Our modified continuous suture method is useful for aortic valve replacement in patients with aortic stenosis and beneficial for the patients because the procedure is less invasive and a larger valve can be implanted.

A new instrument of suction support adapter system for epicardial radiofrequency ablation.

OBJECTIVE: Recently, epicardial ablation on a beating heart has been conducted as a minimally invasive surgical procedure for atrial fibrillation. We have developed a suction support adapter with the aim of ensuring contact between the ablation probe and the atrial wall to obtain transmural coagulation, and we evaluated the effectiveness of the adapter in electrophysiologic and histopathologic procedures. METHODS: To ensure contact between the radiofrequency ablation probe and the atrial wall, we designed and fabricated a suction support adapter. Twelve pigs were used in this study. A comparison was made between a group in which the ablation probe alone was used (group C, n = 6) and a group in which the ablation probe was used with the adapter (group S, n = 6). In both groups, epicardial ablation was conducted on a beating heart. An electrophysiologic evaluation was conducted to determine whether there was electrical isolation. Histopathologic evaluations were performed to identify the range of coagulation in the resected atrial wall specimens. RESULTS: The coagulation range was significantly deeper in group S than in group C, and the breadth was significantly narrower. Transmural coagulation and electrical isolation of the atrial wall were seen in 1 case in group C and in all cases in group S. CONCLUSIONS: Using the suction support adapter, we were able to maintain good contact between the ablation probe and the atrial wall. This device is thus thought to be useful for the safe and reliable performance of epicardial ablation on a beating heart.

Effects of ultrasonic skeletonization of the gastroepiploic artery on endothelial nitric oxide production.

OBJECTIVE: : The right gastroepiploic artery (GEA) is a reliable conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting. Recently, ultrasonic skeletonization in graft harvesting has attracted attention as an alternative technique to increase the length and caliber size of grafts. The influence of GEA skeletonization using an ultrasonically activated device with that using an electrosurgical unit was compared from the viewpoint of production of nitric oxide (NO). METHODS: : Fourteen pigs were used in this study. The GEA were harvested using an ultrasonically activated device (group ultrasonically activated device [USAD], n = 7) or electrocautery (group E, n = 7). Blood sampling was performed at the following three times from the distal end of the GEA: (1) preskeletonization, (2) pedicle, and (3) postskeletonization. Plasma NOx (NO metabolites) levels were measured by chemiluminescent assay. Moreover, in excised specimens, the expression of nitric oxide synthase was examined immunohistologically. RESULTS: : In group USAD, the preskeletonization basal level of plasma NOx in GEA was 25.7 ± 10.9 µmol/L, which then increased to 26.9 ± 10.5 µmol/L (pedicle) and 32.2 ± 12.1 µmol/L (postskeletonization). In group E, the preskeletonization basal plasma NOx level in GEA was 28.9 ± 11.4 µmol/L, which changed to 27.5 ± 8.9 µmol/L (pedicle) and 21.8 ± 8.3 µmol/L (postskeletonization). The results of multivariate analysis indicated that the patterns of changes in plasma NOx level were significantly different in both groups (P = 0.024). In group USAD, post hoc multiple comparison tests revealed a significant difference between preskeletonization and postskeletonization (P = 0.037). CONCLUSIONS: : Ultrasonically skeletonized GEA showed increased effective graft length, higher free flow capacity, and increased endothelial NO production than that prepared using an electrosurgical unit.

Portable coronary active perfusion system for off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.

PURPOSE: The present study was performed to develop a new perfusion system for off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting and to examine whether even a simple coronary perfusion system can maintain adequate blood flow delivery during anastomosis. DESCRIPTION: The experiment was performed in two stages. In procedure 1, 3 pigs with left anterior descending artery occlusion were used to evaluate optimal perfusion flow rate and coronary artery internal pressure, and to evaluate the safety area of perfusion. In procedure 2, 6 pigs were used to validate the new portable coronary perfusion system. EVALUATION: The optimal blood flow in the portable coronary active perfusion system was less than approximately 40 mL/min. The small, easy to use pump system (ie, the portable coronary active perfusion system) may prevent hemodynamic deterioration and ventricular arrhythmia during coronary occlusion, resulting in better maintenance of left ventricular function. CONCLUSIONS: Even a simple pump system can achieve effective perfusion for safe anastomosis. Further studies are required to allow the clinical use of this system.

Hybrid surgical angiogenesis: omentopexy can enhance myocardial angiogenesis induced by cell therapy.

BACKGROUND: The conditions at the injection site are important in cell transplantation for severe ischemic heart disease. The omentum is both a well-vascularized tissue and a source of angiogenic factors. We examined the effectiveness of autologous bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs) with or without omentopexy in a large animal model. METHODS: Myocardial infarction was generated in the lateral wall by ligation of coronary artery branches in miniswine. Animals received BM-MNC injection with or without omentopexy. Controls received saline only. Three weeks after surgery, regional myocardial blood flow and contractility were measured, and density of arterioles was evaluated immunohistologically. Angiography and postmortem examinations were performed to determine collateral communication. RESULTS: Regional myocardial contractility was significantly improved by BM-MNC transplantation both with and without omentopexy (0.29 +/- 0.02 vs 0.11 +/- 0.03, p < 0.01, 0.30 +/- 0.02 vs 0.12 +/- 0.01, p < 0.01, respectively). Relative regional myocardial blood flow in the combined omentopexy group was significantly higher than the controls both at rest (1.05 +/- 0.11 vs 0.57 +/- 0.07, p < 0.01) and under stress (1.09 +/- 0.08 vs 0.40 +/- 0.10, p < 0.01). The number of arterioles (< 50 microm) in both groups were higher than the controls (88.1 +/- 5.00 vs 38.1 +/- 8.99, p < 0.01 and 109.2 +/- 9.91 vs 38.1 +/- 8.99, p < 0.01, respectively). The number of large arterioles (> 50 microm) in the combined omentopexy group was significantly higher than in both BM-MNC alone (26.9 +/- 2.4 vs 17.6 +/- 1.8, p = 0.011) and controls (26.9 +/- 2.4 vs 10.0 +/- 1.3, p < 0.01). Collateral communication between the omentum and myocardium was demonstrated by angiography and postmortem injection. CONCLUSIONS: The BM-MNC transplantation may attenuate cardiac contractile dysfunction, and omentopexy may enhance angiogenesis induced by BM-MNC transplantation.

Off-pump CABG with synchronized arterial flow ensuring system.

PURPOSE: We developed a synchronized, arterial-flow, ensuring system to perform coronary anastomoses safely without any ischemia-related event. DESCRIPTION: Arterial blood is removed from the femoral artery. The resulting blood passes a switching valve and is pumped out to a syringe pump. This pump controller provides pulsatile arterial blood flow synchronized with the diastolic phase on an electrocardiogram. The arterial blood is perfused to the coronary artery through a fine flexible cannula during anastomosis. EVALUATION: From February 1999, 524 consecutive patients were operated on using the synchronized arterial flow ensuring system. Mean duration for each anastomosis was 7.6 +/- 3.3 minutes (range, 4 to 20 min). There were no intraoperative fatal arrhythmias, ventricular arrhythmias, or short-run or hemodynamic deterioration during anastomoses. No hospital death was observed, and postoperative myocardial infarction occurred in 2 patients (0.4%). Postoperative angiography showed a 98.1% patency rate. CONCLUSIONS: The early clinical and angiographical results for off-pump CABG with the synchronized arterial flow ensuring system were excellent without mortality. We believe that off-pump CABG can be more safely performed using the synchronized arterial flow ensuring system based on our favorable results.

Aortic valve replacement by limited sternotomy for infective endocarditis in a patient with a tracheostomy.

Active infection in the area of the tracheostomy during cardiac surgery presents a high risk. We successfully performed urgent aortic valve replacement for an endocarditis patient with active infection of methicillin resistance staphylococcus aureus in the tracheostoma. To avoid wound infection, a 2nd J-limited sternotomy was used during the operation. Despite malnutrition, the patient showed no wound infection after surgery and recovered smoothly.

[Scrotal emphysema: a case report].

We report a case of scrotal emphysema following the placement of a chest tube and an endotrachial catheter for traumatic pneumothorax. Scrotal emphysema is a rare condition and is considered as a type of pneumoscrotum, for which 4 possible mechanisms have been discussed. It is important to promptly determine the origin of air because this condition may be caused by a life-threatening disease.