Aortic wrap as a novel technique of type I endoleak repair.

Type I endoleak after endovascular abdominal repair is associated with a high risk of aneurysm expansion and rupture. Though type I endoleak can frequently be managed with endovascular techniques, in this report we describe a patient whose endoleak was refractory to multiple attempts at endovascular repair. The patient ultimately underwent a novel minimally invasive surgical repair with placement of an aortic wrap around the infrarenal aortic neck, successfully abolishing the endoleak.

West Nile virus infection after cardiac transplantation.

West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne RNA Flavivirus infection transmitted to humans and other vertebrates, mainly by the Culex species of mosquito. Since the mid-1990s, the frequency and apparent clinical severity of West Nile virus outbreaks have increased. We report the case of a patient who developed West Nile virus encephalitis shortly after undergoing cardiac transplantation.

Surgical management of metastatic melanoma to the ventricle.

The treatment of patients who have cardiac tumors can be challenging, because these tumors occur infrequently and in variable locations, and surgical resection is often technically difficult. We report the cases of 2 patients, each of whom underwent successful surgical excision of large melanomas that had metastasized to the right cardiac ventricle. Although the presence of widespread disease and a limited life expectancy usually prevent surgical therapy for patients who have metastatic cardiac tumors, removal of such masses greatly facilitated subsequent medical management of these 2 patients and improved their quality of life.

Interrupted aortic arch in an adult single-stage extra-anatomic repair.

Interrupted aortic arch is a rare congenital malformation of the aortic arch that occurs in 3 per million live births. Defined as a loss of luminal continuity between the ascending and descending portions of the aorta, this anomaly entails a very poor prognosis without surgical treatment. To our knowledge, the world medical literature contains only 12 reports of isolated interrupted aortic arch diagnosed in adults.