Preoperative exercise capacity is associated with the prevalence of postoperative delirium in elective cardiac surgery.

Background: Postoperative delirium (POD) is a critical complication that is closely associated with mortality and major morbidity in elective cardiac surgery. The identification of patients at risk for POD is crucial but has not been fully explored.

Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the predictive value of the assessment of preoperative exercise capacity for POD.

Poor preoperative nutritional status is an important predictor of the retardation of rehabilitation after cardiac surgery in elderly cardiac patients.

Background: Preoperative nutritional status and physical function are important predictors of mortality and morbidity after cardiac surgery. However, the influence of nutritional status before cardiac surgery on physical function and the progress of postoperative rehabilitation requires clarification.

Aims: To determine the effect of preoperative nutritional status on preoperative physical function and progress of rehabilitation after elective cardiac surgery.

Impact of positional relationship of commissures on cusp function after valve-sparing root replacement for regurgitant bicuspid aortic valve.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the longitudinal valve function after valve-sparing root replacement in patients with bicuspid aortic valves (BAVs), in terms of both transvalvular pressure gradient (TVPG) and freedom from aortic regurgitation.

Methods: In this non-randomized retrospective study, two different approaches were chosen for correcting the circumferential orientation of commissures during aortic root reimplantation for Sievers type I BAV: (i) 180° orientation, in which both cusps occupy equal surface areas and (ii) preserving native commissural orientation. From 2005 to 2015, 41 consecutive patients with Sievers type I BAV undergoing valve-sparing root replacement were divided into two groups according to the techniques: native orientation group and 180° group.

Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction caused by massive mitral annular calcification in a patient with hypertensive heart disease.

Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is frequently observed, but it rarely causes left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction (LVOTO). An 83-year-old woman with hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia was admitted to our hospital because of exertional dyspnea. She was diagnosed with hypertensive heart disease.

Spontaneous pseudoaneurysm of the hand.

Pseudoaneurysm of the hand is rare. Few cases have been reported in the literature, and these cases are usually related to trauma. Early treatment is recommended for pseudoaneurysm after it has been diagnosed.

Volume reduction rate by surgical ventricular restoration determines late outcome in ischaemic cardiomyopathy.

Aims: Surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) effectively reduces left ventricular (LV) volume in ischaemic cardiomyopathy (ICM), but the recent Surgical Treatment of Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) Trial questions its importance. We report 8-year SVR experience in patients with ICM.

Methods And Results: Between 2000 and 2008, 135 patients underwent SVR for ICM.

[Surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation using ablation devices and ablation of autonomic ganglion plexi].

Background: Development of ablation device for the surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation (Af) has suggested the safety and easiness of the maze procedure. However, the success rate of sinus rhythm (SR) recovery is not satisfactory. We studied the maze procedure and the results with ablation device and also with additional ganglion plexi (GP) ablation.

Indication of posterior restoration and surgical results in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Objective: Nontransplant surgery for dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) has been in the process of development. Anterior restoration for anterior akinesis has shown favourable outcome. Posterior restoration and surgical results are also discussed.

Aortic root replacement with a stentless bioprosthesis in osteogenesis imperfecta.

Herein is reported a successful surgical case of aortic root replacement for aortic regurgitation in a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta. A 37-year-old male, who had been diagnosed as osteogenesis imperfecta of type IA, underwent mitral valve repair for mitral regurgitation. Severe aortic regurgitation developed four years after surgery.

Primary cardiac liposarcoma causing cardiac tamponade: report of a case.

The intracardiac growth and extension of liposarcoma was observed in a 60-year-old woman. The epicardial tumor was identified to originate from the anterior wall of the right ventricle. She initially showed symptoms associated with cardiac tamponade.

Two surgical cases of acute aortic dissection in pregnancy with marfan syndrome.

We describe 2 surgical cases of acute aortic type A dissection during pregnancy in women with Marfan syndrome. Both of them underwent emergency aortic root replacement under deep hypothermia; one patient was in her 21(st) week of pregnancy and the other was treated 1 day after a normal delivery. The patients experienced fair postoperative courses, but intrauterine fetus death was confirmed in the first case.

Reoperation for early failure of a freestyle bioprosthesis using a full root technique.

The case is reported of a 65-year-old male who required reoperation for early failure of a Freestyle stentless valve aortic root bioprosthesis implanted using the full root technique. The bioprosthesis had been implanted to treat annuloaortic ectasia associated with severe aortic regurgitation (AR). At 18 months postoperatively, a new diastolic murmur developed, though without complaint by the patient.

[Chordal cutting for the treatment of ischemic mitral regurgitation: two case reports].

The surgical treatment for ischemic mitral regurgitation remains controversal. Ring annuloplasty results in recurrent mitral regurgitation in some cases. Strut chordal cutting is a new surgical procedure in addition to ring annuloplasty for ischemic mitral regurgitation.