Examining the Formalin Fixation Method for Maintaining High RNA Quality in Surgical Lung Specimens.

Background: Multiplex genetic testing is recommended when treating nonsmall cell lung cancer. A certain percentage of test failures in RNA assays owing to poor surgical specimen quality have been documented, and fixation failure is a possible cause. At our institution, sheet-like fixation is performed to reduce fixation time.

Effect of Surgeons' Years of Experience on Outcomes of Acute Type A Aortic Dissection.

Background The effect of surgeons' years of experience on the outcomes of acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) repair has not yet been studied. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the surgeon's years in practice and the outcomes of ATAAD repair. Methods Surgical records of ATAAD repairs performed at Saga University Hospital between 2004 and 2020 were reviewed.

Rapidly Worsening Infective Endocarditis With Severe Mitral Stenosis.

Infective endocarditis (IE) rarely results in mitral stenosis (MS), but MS in patients with IE can be life-threatening. We present a case of prosthetic MS secondary to IE. A 69-year-old Japanese man underwent mitral valve replacement with a bioprosthetic valve 2 years previously.

[Rupture without Bleeding Secondary to Endotension After Thoracic Endovasular Aneurysm Repair:Report of a Case].

We report a rare case of rupture without bleeding secondary to endotension after thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair. An 82-year-old woman had undergone multiple thoracic endovascular aortic repairs for a distal arch aneurysm. Due to the aneurysm enlargement, stent graft was eventually placed from the ascending aorta to just above the celiac artery after axillo-axillo-common carotid artery bypass.

[Thoracoabdominal Aneurysm in a Patient with an Axillo-bifemoral Bypass].

We report an extremely rare case of thoracoabdominal replacement after left axillo-bifemoral artery bypass surgery. The patient was a 33-year-old man who had undergone left axillo-bifemoral artery bypass surgery after total arch replacement due to lower extremity ischemia by stenosis of the elephant trunk graft 10 years previously. He was admitted to the emergency department with back pain.

Posterior cardiac drain for atrial fibrillation after aortic valve replacement.

Background: Postoperative atrial fibrillation occurs in 27% to 40% of patients after cardiac surgery. One cause of postoperative atrial fibrillation is pericardial effusion, which can be a significant source of inflammation. In this study, we investigated the effect of a drain placed in a posterior site to the heart to reduce pericardial effusion in the early postoperative period to prevent postoperative atrial fibrillation.

Chiral spherical aromatic amides: one-step synthesis and their stereochemical/chiroptical properties.

Macrocyclic aromatic amides 2, in which the -positions of all four benzene rings are linked by tertiary amide bonds, were successfully synthesized by a one-step condensation reaction of two monomers using dichlorotriphenylphosphorane or triphenylphosphine/hexachloroethane (dehydration-condensation reagents for carboxy and amino groups), or LiHMDS (aminolysis for esters) as coupling reagents. Single crystal X-ray analyses of the -methyl and -ethyl derivatives were performed and revealed that each compound adopted a spherical structure with chirality because of the fixed axis rotation and combined polarity of the amide bonds. Enantiomers of each spherical macrocycle were separated by chiral column chromatography and showed mirror-imaged CD spectra to each other.

Accuracy of Outcome Ascertainment in Long-Term Mortality After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Long-term outcome ascertainment can be affected by the follow-up performance and needs to use a different data source for more comprehensive data capture. However, a universal tracking system is absent in Japan, and long-term outcomes are often ascertained through electronic medical records (EMRs), the reliability of which is uncertain. In this study, we compared EMR-based and direct outreach-based collections on outcome ascertainment accuracy in 500 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting.

Immune cell kinetics after allogeneic red blood cell transfusion in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery.

Background And Objectives: Recent reports have highlighted that allogeneic blood transfusions decrease immune responses and affect patient outcomes. However, the effects of allogeneic red blood cell transfusions on the composition of immune cells are unclear. We aimed to clarify the alterations in host immune cells in patients who received allogeneic red blood cell transfusions during the perioperative period of cardiovascular surgery.

Sex-Related Differences Between Patients Undergoing Surgery for Acute Type A Aortic Dissection.

Introduction This study aimed to evaluate the sex-specific characteristics and surgical outcomes in patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD). Materials and methods We reviewed the surgical records of patients who underwent ATAAD repair at our institution between 2004 and 2020 (n=213). Results Of the 213 patients, 100 (46.

Idiopathic superior mesenteric venous thrombosis requiring bowel resection: a report of four cases.

Background: Superior mesenteric venous thrombosis (SMVT) is mostly treated with anticoagulation therapy; however, SMVT can lead to irreversible bowel ischemia and require bowel resection in the acute or subacute phase.

Case Presentation: We report four cases of SMVT that required careful observation and bowel resection. Case 1: A 71-year-old man presented with abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting that showed a completely occluded SMV with thrombus and small bowel ischemia.

A vertebrate-wide catalogue of T1R receptors reveals diversity in taste perception.

Taste is a vital chemical sense for feeding behaviour. In mammals, the umami and sweet taste receptors comprise three members of the taste receptor type 1 (T1R/TAS1R) family: T1R1, T1R2 and T1R3. Because their functional homologues exist in teleosts, only three TAS1R genes generated by gene duplication are believed to have been inherited from the common ancestor of bony vertebrates.

Is the Preoperative Prognostic Nutritional Index a Useful Marker for the Decision to Perform Limited Resection in High-risk Patients With Stage I Non-small Cell Lung Cancer?

Background/aim: The indications for limited resection in high-risk patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of the preoperative prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in high-risk patients undergoing limited resection.

Patients And Methods: High-risk patients undergoing limited resection for stage I NSCLC in our institution from 2005 to 2020 were retrospectively reviewed.

Endoscopic Pedicle Saphenous Vein Graft Harvesting.

The excellent long-term patency of no-touch (NT) saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) makes the grafts very attractive for coronary artery bypass grafting; however, NT-SVG harvesting has a greater incidence of wound complications than conventional methods. Since 2009, we have performed endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) in our department with very few major wound complications. Because NT-SVG harvesting is expected to provide long-term patency, if performed with EVH, the incidence of wound complications will be reduced.

The comparison of the clinical outcomes and costs between surgical aortic valve replacement and transcatheter aortic valve implantation based on the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination database.

Purpose: We evaluated the clinical outcomes and costs of surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and transfemoral transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for aortic stenosis using the Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination (DPC) database.

Methods: Using our extraction protocol, we retrospectively analyzed summary tables in the DPC database from 2016 to 2019, which were provided by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. A total of 27,278 patients were available (SAVR, n = 12,534; TAVI, n = 14,744).

Efficacy of Cardiac Computed Tomography for Obstructive Mechanical Valve Thrombosis Under Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation.

We encountered a patient in a state of shock who required venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in whom cardiac computed tomography was instrumental in diagnosing obstructive mechanical mitral valve thrombosis as well as in the differentiation of other probable diseases. Because the patient was on venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support, computed tomography imaging required some ingenuity. ().

How to select the optimal size of frozen elephant trunk in total arch replacement for type A acute aortic dissection.

Background: Total arch replacement (TAR) with a frozen elephant trunk (FET) is a common technique for acute aortic dissection, but there is no consensus on the optimal size of the FET.

Methods: Forty-four patients who underwent TAR with FET for acute aortic dissection at our hospital since 2014 were included. The aortic diameter obtained from FET was measured on postoperative computed tomography (CT) and the estimated oversizing ratio was calculated.

Late outcomes of the frozen elephant trunk technique for acute and chronic aortic dissection: the angle change of the FROZENIX by "spring-back" force.

Objectives: To evaluate the outcomes of total arch replacement using the frozen elephant trunk technique with a FROZENIX J Graft for patients with either acute or chronic aortic dissection, and to evaluate the late-phase outcomes.

Methods: Between January 2015 and December 2020, we used the frozen elephant trunk technique in 47 patients with acute aortic dissection and 12 patients with chronic aortic dissection. The primary endpoints were 30-day mortality, late aorta-related death and late aortic events.

A useful exercise test for detecting leg malperfusion due to aortic dissection.

We herein report a case of leg malperfusion caused by dynamic obstruction after aortic dissection diagnosed by the exercise ankle brachial pressure index test that could not be diagnosed solely by examining the symptoms and investigations at rest. This case suggests that exercise can be a key factor in the diagnosis of this complication. Furthermore, blood pressure elevation can be an exacerbating factor in dynamic obstruction.

Novel technique in frozen elephant trunk positioning method using the ostium of the coronary artery on transesophageal echocardiography as an index.

The frozen elephant trunk (FET) technique is useful in the single-stage treatment of aortic arch aneurysms. Since there is no established implantation method for evaluating the distal end of the FET during surgery, we propose the FET positioning method using the ostium of the coronary artery on transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) as an index. We performed 11 total arch replacement operations using an FET for aortic arch aneurysm.

Impact of after-hours surgery on outcomes of acute type A aortic dissection repair.

Purpose: To establish whether emergency surgery performed outside working hours (after hours) contributed to adverse outcomes for patients with acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD).

Methods: We reviewed the operation records of ATAAD repair in our institution from 2004 to 2019 (n = 187). Emergency surgery was performed by one of a few teams of experienced surgeons, regardless of the time of day.

[Repeated Heart Failure after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Using Self-expandable Bioprosthetic Valve:Report of a Case].

The patient was an 81-year-old man. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation( TAVI) was performed for severe aortic stenosis using Evolut R. The patient moved to intensive care unit without an adverse event after the operation.

Giant aneurysmal coronary artery fistula originating from the left circumflex artery: Two case reports.

Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is one of the most common coronary artery anomalies. The most common fistulas originate from the right coronary artery and drain into the right heart structures. Due to the variety of coronary fistulas, the surgical treatment strategy is individualized for each case.