Pannus formation: a rare culprit of early bioprosthetic valve dysfunction-a case report.

Background: Early bioprosthetic valve dysfunction (BVD) due to pannus formation is uncommon in elderly patients, and only a limited number of cases have been reported.

Case Summary: An 84-year-old man presented with exertional dyspnoea 3 years after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) with a 19 mm Epic™ valve (Abbott, Santa Clara, CA, USA). Transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated progressive BVD, and cardiac computed tomography (CT) revealed sub-aortic pannus formation.

[Epicardial Pacemaker Infection Treated by Leads Removal via Re-sternotomy:Report of a Case].

A 69-year-old woman was diagnosed with a pacemaker infection after generator-exchange. Eight years ago, she underwent mitral and tricuspid valve replacement and had biventricular pacing with three pairs of epicardial leads placed in the right atrium, right ventricle, and left ventricle for left ventricular dysfunction. Skin perforation due to infection was detected 1 month after generator-exchange.

[Early Structural Valve Deterioration of Bioprosthetic Mitral Valve in a Dialysis Patient].

Choice of prosthetic valve during valve replacement in dialysis patients is still controversial. There is a known risk of early structural valve deterioration of bioprosthesis in dialysis patients, whereas mechanical prosthesis is associated with a higher risk of bleeding and thrombotic events. A 68-year-old dialysis-dependent woman, who had undergone bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement at the age of 66, was admitted to our hospital because of general malaise and hypotension during dialysis.

[Mitral Valve Replacement and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy for Mitral Regurgitation with Left Ventricular Noncompaction:Report of a Case].

Left ventricular noncompaction (LVNC) is a rare congenital abnormality resulting from an arrest of the normal process of myocardial compaction. LVNC has been known as a disease of infants, however, some surgical cases of LVNC in adult have been reported. A 61-year-old man who was diagnosed as dilated cardiomyopathy due to LVNC was admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea.

[Angina Pectoris due to Anomalous Aortic Origin of the Right Coronary Artery;Report of a Case].

A 45-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of chest pain on exertion. She was diagnosed to have an anomalous aortic origin of the right coronary artery(RCA) arising from the left sinus of Valsalva, passing between the aorta and the main pulmonary artery. Exercise treadmill test demonstrated significant depression of ST segments in leads II, III and aVF.

[Beating Mitral Valve Replacement for Functional Mitral Regurgitation after Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy;Report of a Case].

A 72-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea. He had a history of cardiac resynchronization therapy for congestive heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy 6 months previously. Echocardiography revealed severe functional mitral regurgitation which had been mild 6 months before.

[Double Valve Replacement and Tricuspid Annuloplasty in a Patient with Situs Inversus Totalis and Mirror-image Dextrocardia;Report of a Case].

Situs inversus totalis and mirror-image dextrocardia is a rare congenital anomaly. A 79-year-old man with a history of atrial fibrillation presented to our hospital with chest oppression. Chest X-ray and computed tomography showed mirror-image dextrocardia and situs inversus totalis.

[Early outcomes of isolated aortic valve replacement in octogenarians].

We retrospectively studied early outcomes of isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR)in octogenarians. From November 2006 to October 2012, 70 patients underwent AVR and we divided them into 2 groups:group O (24 patients aged 80 years or older, 80~91 years;mean age, 85.0 years);and group Y(46 patients aged younger than 80, 39~79 years;mean age, 69.

HPA axis dysfunction in unmedicated major depressive disorder and its normalization by pharmacotherapy correlates with alteration of neural activity in prefrontal cortex and limbic/paralimbic regions.

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis is one of the most prominent neurobiological findings in major depressive disorder (MDD). The relationship of regional brain metabolism to HPA axis dysfunction in depressed patients, however, is still unclear. In this study, to examine the clinical pharmacotherapeutic effects on HPA axis function and brain metabolism in MDD patients, we performed the combined dexamethasone (DEX)/corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) test on 24 antidepressant-free patients with MDD a few days after positron emission tomography (PET) with a radiotracer, [(18)F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG).

Relationship between granulocyte elastase and C3a under protamine dosing in on-pump cardiac surgery.

Objective: The complement cascade and granulocytes are activated in on-pump cardiac surgery. If activation of complement directly regulates granulocytes, granulocyte elastase (GEL) should increase significantly after protamine administration. We examined the effect of protamine on granulocytes by protamine administration and observation of the effect on GEL and C3a.

A new poly-2-methoxyethylacrylate-coated cardiopulmonary bypass circuit possesses superior platelet preservation and inflammatory suppression efficacy.

Background: Poly-2-methoxyethylacrylate (PMEA) is a new coating material, and several studies have revealed that PMEA-coated cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) circuits have good biocompatibility. This study sought to compare this biocompatibility with those of heparin-coated and noncoated circuits.

Methods: Forty-five patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting were randomly assigned to PMEA-coated (group P, n = 15), heparin-coated (group H, n = 15), or noncoated (group N, n = 15) circuit groups.