[Long-term survival of malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the chest wall by multidisciplinary treatment].

We report a case of malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) of the chest wall. A 70-year-old man admitted for recurrent chest wall tumor diagnosed for MFH histologically and resected 7 months and 13 months before admission. Chest computed tomography (CT) revealed a tumor located at right posterior chest wall.

Clinical experience with temporary vena cava filters.

An experience with temporary filter placement, which seems to be safe and effective for temporarily preventing pulmonary embolism, is reported. Since October 1997, six patients had temporary filters. There were two men and four women, with a mean age of 37 years.

[A case of giant cell tumor originating from the rib].

We have experienced a case of giant cell tumor originating from the rib. A 45-year-old male was admitted to our hospital because of a mass in the left chest wall. A tumor shadow was observed in the left side of chest X ray.

Acute type A aortic dissection following intramural hematoma of the aorta. A case report.

A seventy-three-year-old woman had symptoms of aortic dissection. Initial computed tomographic (CT) scan and angiography showed an extensive intramural hematoma (IMH) of the aortic segment from the ascending aorta to the bulk of the descending aorta without intimal tear or false lumen. Two weeks later the patient's symptoms recurred.

[Abdominal aortic aneurysm and annuloaortic ectasia in siblings with Marfan syndrome].

A combination of annuloaortic ectasia (AAE) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) appeared in siblings with Marfan syndrome is presented. The patients were a 53-year-old female and her younger brother. The brother died of arrhythmia twenty years before while waiting for surgical repair of AAE.

The management of patients with dissection of the descending thoracic aorta: a comparison between closing and nonclosing dissections.

This study was designed to clarify and compare the clinical characteristics and prognoses of patients with closing and nonclosing dissection of the descending thoracic aorta. Between January 1991 and December 1994, 19 patients with closing dissection (Group A) and 20 with nonclosing dissection (Group B) underwent surgical repair or medical treatment at our institution. There were 29 men and 10 women, aged between 37 and 74 years, with a mean age of 62 years.

A new experimental model for simultaneous evaluation of aortic and pulmonary allograft performance in a composite graft.

A model was developed in pigs for simultaneous evaluation of aortic and pulmonary allograft performance in a composite graft. The composite graft consisted of vascular prosthesis and aortic and pulmonary allografts. Following antibiotic preservation, it was anastomosed to the recipient's thoracic descending aorta by an extrapleural approach without using cardiopulmonary bypass.

[Coronary arterial bypass grafting for angina pectoris suspected with aortitis syndrome: a case report].

We report herein the case of a 56-year-old man with angina pectoris suspected to be accompanied with aortitis syndrome who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). His cerebral blood flow consisted of only that of the right vertebralartery, and the marked collaterals of the bronchial artery anastomosing to the coronary artery. CABG was performed under combined with electrical fibrillation and systemic deep hypothermia, for fear of a bad influence on the cerebral tissue by the influx of high potassium cardioplegic solution.

[Open heart surgery in patients with chronic dialysis].

From January, 1986 to May, 1995, twelve patients with dialysis (11 hemodialysis; HD, and one continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis; CAPD) received open heart surgery. They consist of 10 males and two females aged between 35 and 66 with a mean of 58.8.

Successful application of hypothermia combined with intra-aortic balloon pump support to low-cardiac-output state after open heart surgery.

The authors report a successful application of hypothermia, along with intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) support, to postcardiotomy ventricular failure. Surface-cooling hypothermia was applied in 8 patients after open heart surgery. The original cardiac procedure consisted of 3 aortocoronary bypass graftings (ACBGs), 2 aortic valve replacements (AVRs), 1 repair for left ventricular (LV) rupture after mitral valve replacement (MVR), 1 MVR + ACBG, and 1 MVR + AVR + tricuspid valve annuloplasty (TAP).

[A case of ASD with SLE treated with Carmeda BioActive surface circuit in cardiopulmonary bypass system].

A 61-year-old woman of ASD complicated with SLE was operated on. We used a heparin coating Carmeda BioActive Surface (CBS) in cardiopulmonary bypass circuit for the purpose to prevent the postoperative complications due to the reduced complement activation by SLE. This system could prevent the decline of the reduced complement activation during cardiopulmonary bypass and after operation.

[Surgical results of valve replacement with the Björk-Shiley tilting disc valves].

We evaluated the Björk-Shiley tilting-disc (BS) valve replacement up to the longest duration for about 12 years. The study was started in November 1982 and ended in September 1991. There were total number of 206 with 117 males and 89 females aged between 18 and 71 with a mean of 51.

[Surgical results of valve replacement with porcine bioprostheses].

We evaluated the 80 cases of porcine valve replacement, accomplished between April 1975 and December 1980. There were 48 males and 32 females aged between 16 and 60 years old with a mean of 37.4 +/- 11.

Massive endobronchial hemorrhage after pulmonary embolectomy.

Massive endobronchial hemorrhage is a lethal complication in pulmonary embolectomy. We report a case of massive endobronchial hemorrhage occurring after successful restoration of pulmonary blood flow using cardiopulmonary bypass in a patient with pulmonary embolism. Two possible causative factors of this complication are described.

[Management of patients with closing aortic dissection].

Acute aortic dissection is a catastrophic event requiring immediate diagnosis and definitive treatment, while the clinical characteristics of closing aortic dissection are not well known. From Jan. 1991 through Dec.

Acute aortic dissection in a patient with osteogenesis imperfecta.

A case of osteogenesis imperfecta complicated with acute type A aortic dissection is presented. Emergency graft replacement of the ascending aorta was performed successfully despite the anticipated difficulties with tissue friability. Therefore, such an operation is suggested to be worthy of consideration and feasible in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta.

[Double valve replacement with mechanical prostheses--an operative results].

From January 1980 to December 1993, sixty eight patients underwent double valve replacement with mechanical prostheses. There were forty males and twenty-eight females with a mean age of 49.6 years (ranging from 30 to 68 years).

[Significance of combined use of anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents in the early stage after prosthetic valve replacement].

Patients who had undergone prosthetic valve replacement were treated with warfarin (anticoagulant) alone or in combination of ticlopidine (200 mg/day) or aspirin (81 mg/day) (anti-platelet agents). The study of blood coagulation factors and platelet aggregation were carried out with these cases. 1) The patients (n = 24) receiving warfarin for 21 days after prosthetic valve replacement revealed marked increases in PIVKA-II and vitamin K1-epoxide.

[Isolated aortic valve regurgitation due to degeneration of the valve leaflet--a clinical study].

From 1989 through 1993 thirty-eight patients underwent aortic valve replacement at our institution for isolated aortic regurgitation (AR) caused by idiopathic degeneration of the valve. There were 32 male and 6 female patients aged between 33 and 74 years with a mean of 59 years. Preoperative New York Heart Association functional class, cardiothoracic ratio, cardiac index, and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure were 2.

[Valvular surgery for the patients 70 years old or older].

From January 1986 to June 1993, twenty one patients aged 70 years or older with valvular heart disease underwent open heart surgery. There were 12 males and 9 females with a mean age of 71.2 years (range 70 to 76).

Infective mitral valve endocarditis after percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy.

Infective mitral valve endocarditis developed in a 40-year-old female patient after a percutaneous transvenous mitral commissurotomy (PTMC). The echocardiogram demonstrated a vegetation in the anterior leadflet of the mitral valve and moderate aortic insufficiency. The patient underwent replacement of the infected mitral and incompetent aortic valves.

[A successful case of two-staged operation for Stanford type B acute dissecting aneurysm complicated with total occlusion of the distal abdominal aorta].

A successful case of two-staged operation for Stanford type B acute dissecting aneurysm complicated with total occlusion of the distal abdominal aorta was reported. A 62-year-old male patient with a long history of systemic hypertension developed acute severe chest, back and bilateral legs pain. An enhanced CT demonstrated Stanford type B dissecting aneurysm with occlusion of the left renal artery and bilateral common iliac arteries.

[Surgical treatment of infective endocarditis--an analysis of the risk factors for operative mortality and long-term follow-up].

From September, 1978, through January, 1993, 67 patients (mean age: 44 years) underwent surgical treatment for infective endocarditis (IE) at Kagoshima University. Of 67 patients, 36 showed active endocarditis and 31 healed endocarditis at the time of operation. The over-all hospital mortality was 22.

The surgical treatment of 30 patients with cardiac myxomas: a comparison of clinical features according to morphological classification.

Thirty patients with cardiac myxomas whose main clinical symptoms included congestive heart failure, tachyarrhythmia, chest pain and emboli, were successfully treated with surgery. The cardiac myxomas were found in the left atrium in 23 patients, the right atrium in 6, and the right ventricle in 1. Complete follow-up was conducted from 1 month to 15 years (mean 5.