[Clinical case of the month. Spontaneous pneumopericardium after sternal dehiscence].

We report a case of pneumopericardium occuring after cardiac surgery. Pneumopericardium is a rare condition; trauma is the most frequent etiology. Nontraumatic causes include fistulae in relationship with the bronchial tree or oesophagus and intrapericardial gazeous production due to bacterial pericarditis.

[Cardiac computed tomography in preoperative management of a congenital coronary anomaly].

We report the case of a 81-year-old man presenting with stable exercise angina pectoris. The stress test is positive and the coronaro-angiographic evaluation demonstrates a coronary fistula between the left anterior descending (LAD) artery and the pulmonary artery trunk. The mid LAD presents a significant lesion after the origin of the fistula.

[Left ventricular aneurysms: principles of surgical treatment].

After reviewing the historical background, the morphology and physiopathology of left ventricular aneurysms, the authors review the physiology, the technical aspects, and the current surgical indications of aneurysmectomy, with a particular emphasis on the concept of endoventriculoplasty of Jatène & Dor.

[Clinical case of the month. Subvalvular aortic stenosis].

A case of fixed subvalvular aortic stenosis is reported. This clinical observation is the occasion to review the pathophysiology of this lesion and the last developments in the surgical treatment.

Nicardipine protocol for CABG using the radial artery clinical and angiographic data.

The routine use of arterial grafts in coronary surgery is facilitated by peroperative adjunction of antispasmodic drug to reduce the event of spasm. Diltiazem has been favoured in most clinical studies devoted to the radial artery graft. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a spasm preventing protocol associating hydrostatic dilation of the graft with a diluted solution of papaverine and nicardipine infusion, starting preoperatively and continued postoperatively in i.

[Shone's syndrome: report of four cases and review of the literature].

The observation of four clinical cases of Shone's complex, two of them presenting first with predominant coarctation of the aorta, prompted us to review the pertinent literature. Patients with multiobstructive lesions of the left heart, including Shone's complex, represent a surgical challenge where the adequate management of mitral valve anomalies, subaortic stenosis, and coarctation constitutes the key prognostic factor for satisfactory mid-term outcome.

[Coronary revascularization of the beating heart using complete arterial grafts].

A case of complete arterial revascularization using both mammary arteries and the left radial artery is reported. The operation was done on the beating heart with the adjunct of a Y graft owing to a severely calcified ascending aorta. This observation is the occasion to review the basic principles of beating heart surgery.

[Clinical case of the month. Complete replacement of the ascending aorta and aortic arch in a case of chronic aortic dissection].

We report the case of a patient who developed an evolutive chronic aortic dissection after ascending aorta replacement for acute type A aortic dissection. Owing to the development of severe aortic regurgitation, aortic root pseudoaneurysm and aneurysmal dilatation of the arch and descending aorta, reoperation was adviced. Reoperation included Cabrol modification of the Bentall operation and aortic arch replacement with elephant trunk performed under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest.

[Extensions of mitral valve repair techniques: surgery for endocarditis and valvular tumors].

Mitral valve repair has demonstrated its superiority over valve replacement. Mitral valve repair constitutes the optimal therapeutic option in case of degenerative dystrophic, rheumatic, congenital or ischemic mitral valve disease. These surgical techniques can also be successfully and advantageously applied in case of bacterial endocarditis or tumoral valvular disease.

[Early diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta in children: a challenge].

Coarctation of the aorta presents with characteristic and distinctive physical findings. Because delayed detection of severe forms may be fatal and late detection of classic forms is associated with premature cardiovascular disease in adult life, early detection and treatment is important. However, in our survey a few patients in whom aortic coarctation was ultimately diagnosed had the correct diagnosis made by the referring physician.

[Place of the Ross procedure (pulmonary autograft) in aortic valve surgery].

The pulmonary autograft operation consists of an aortic replacement using the autologous pulmonary valve. The pulmonary valve is substituted by a cryopreserved pulmonary homograft. This operation is in fact a delicate double valve replacement whose benefits are linked to the viability of the new aortic substitute.

[Congenital abnormalities of the vessels of the base of the heart: "ring" and "sling" vascular abnormalities. Case report].

We present a case of double aortic arch corrected by surgical interruption and full mobilization of the trachea and the esophagus. The vascular malformations of the supraaortic trunks, which form more or less complete vascular rings encircling the esophagus and the trachea, are reviewed. The different presentations of double aortic arch, aberrant subclavian arteries, and abnormal development of the pulmonary arteries are discussed.

Cardiac involvement in Coffin-Lowry syndrome.

Coffin-Lowry syndrome is an X-linked recessive syndrome of mental retardation, characteristic facies and skeletal anomalies. In one patient with the syndrome, we observed early recurrent episodes of congestive heart failure with intercurrent normalization and the late development of mitral insufficiency due to annular dilation and congenital abnormalities of the valve apparatus. This unusual course of cardiac involvement, the non-adaptation of the left ventricular contractility to the aggravation of the mitral insufficiency and the postoperative persistence of the ventricular dysfunction, underline the possible role of an associated primary myocardial disease.

[Medico-surgical management of childhood cardiopathy: results of the Liège experience].

Objective: Evaluation of the results obtained in the management of congenital heart diseases in Liège.

Material And Methods: We evaluated the results, the mortality and the morbidity of diagnostic and interventional cardiac catheterization, and of the cardiac surgery in the 123 cardiac children who were referred to us during the three first years of operation of our medico-surgical team.

Results: 89 children underwent a catheterization, including 12 therapeutic interventions, whereas 68 were operated.

[Minimal cardiac surgery].

In general surgery, the aim of new techniques is to reduce the length of the skin incisions and/or to use endoscopic or laparoscopic instruments. The cardiac surgery makes not an exception. During the last two years, the material and the techniques are following a progressive evolution.

An unusual case of cor triatriatum: clinical presentation and the haemodynamics of a rare anomaly.

The case of a 24-year-old woman with cor triatriatum sinister and a persistent left superior vena cava connected to the junction of the left upper pulmonary vein and left atrium is reported. A diagnosis of partial anomalous pulmonary venous return had been made and the patient underwent surgery. Inspection of the left atrium revealed a complex form of left triatrial heart.

Blowout of carotid venous patch angioplasty.

Two cases of vein patch blowout were observed five and seven days after carotid bifurcation endarterectomy with patch angioplasty. Both patients died in spite of emergency reoperation. One patient developed respiratory failure with subsequent fatal cardiac arrest seven days after reoperation; the other died of extensive hemispheric infarction on the fifth postoperative day.

[Simultaneous coronary and carotid surgery: apropos of 73 cases].

A series of 73 simultaneous carotid and coronary revascularizations (Group I) is presented (January 1980-December 1988). Age, sex, risk factors, severity of angina, coronarography, neurological symptoms, angiographic carotid lesions and operative outcome of these 73 patients are compared with the aspects of 3544 coronary bypass patients (Group II) and 1001 carotid endarterectomized patients (Group III) during the same period. The angina in Group I is more severe, with 22% belonging to NYHA class IV and 26% having a stenosis of the left main coronary artery, vs 14% and 13% in Group II.

Coronary artery reoperations.

From June 1976 to June 1989, 138 previously revascularized coronary patients were reoperated upon. This represents 3.28% of all aortocoronary bypass procedures performed during the same period in our institution.