Successful management of HeartMate 3 in a patient with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

The management of right heart failure during durable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support remains an unsolved issue so far. We had a 44-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy and received HeartMate 3 LVAD (Abbott, USA) implantation as a bridge-to-transplant indication. The pump speed was adjusted as low as 4500 rpm to avoid the left ventricular narrowing and interventricular septal leftward shift.

[Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair for Mycotic Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm After BCG Intravesical Therapy].

Bacille Calmette-Guérin( BCG) intravesical therapy is an effective and safe treatment for bladder cancer; however, mycotic aneurysms have been reported as a rare complication. Case 1:A 64-year-old man with a history of BCG intravesical therapy underwent emergent thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for a ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA). He was diagnosed with BCG infection by hemosputum specimen culture five months later;then, antituberculous therapy was initiated.

Application of the Konno procedure for infective endocarditis in native bicuspid aortic valve with annular abscess extending into the interventricular septum.

Annular abscess is a serious complication of infective endocarditis, which often requires complex surgery and has a very high post-operative mortality rate. The Konno procedure involves valve annuloplasty for a narrow aortic annulus or left ventricular outflow tract stenosis in children; it is also performed for various cardiac conditions in adults. Here, we report a case of the Konno procedure performed in a patient with aortic valve infective endocarditis, with an annular abscess extending into the interventricular septum (IVS).

Aortic valve replacement in a patient with self-reported systemic multiple metal allergy.

We report our experience with aortic valve replacement in a patient with severe aortic stenosis who had self-reported allergies to multiple metals. The patient was a 74-year-old man. He developed palmoplantar pustulosis after using a dental prosthesis, and a patch test revealed reactions to several metals; therefore, he was diagnosed with systemic metal allergy.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Improves Cardiac Sympathetic Nerve Activity on I-Metaiodobenzylguanidine Myocardial Scintigraphy in Severe Aortic Valve Stenosis.

Background: There is a consensus that overactivation of the cardiac sympathetic nervous system (CSN) proportionately increases the severity of heart failure and is accompanied by worse prognosis. Because it is unknown whether patients with aortic valve stenosis (AS) have similar CSN activation, we investigated the effect of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Methods and results: We enrolled 31 consecutive patients with AS treated by TAVI.

Two-Stage Hybrid Repair in a Patient with Acute Type A Aortic Dissection Associated with Right Aortic Arch with Aberrant Left Subclavian Artery Originating from a Kommerell Diverticulum.

Right aortic arch with aberrant left subclavian artery and Kommerell diverticulum are rare anomalies. A 42-year-old man was referred with sudden-onset chest pain. Enhanced computed tomography (CT) showed a right aortic arch with early thrombosed acute type A aortic dissection and an aberrant left subclavian artery arising from a Kommerell diverticulum.

[Isolated Pulmonary Valve Endocarditis in a Patient with Aortic Regurgitation and Patent Foramen Ovale;Report of a Case].

Isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis is an extremely rare clinical condition. Here, we report a case of pulmonary valve endocarditis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). An 84-year-old man with a history of aortic regurgitation and patent foramen ovale was admitted to our hospital due to fever of unknown origin for 4 weeks' duration.

On-Pump Beating Heart Extraanatomical Ascending-Descending Aortic Bypass Using a Beating Heart Positioner in an Adult with Aortic Coarctation.

The prognosis of uncorrected aortic coarctation is poor due to development of heart failure. We performed an on-pump beating heart extraanatomical ascending-descending aortic bypass using a beating heart positioner in an adult with coarctation complicated by severe left ventricular hypertrophy. A 51-year-old woman was referred with severe hypertension.

Current topics in surgery for multiple ventricular septal defects.

In this review article, we describe several topics, including the sandwich technique, the transatrial re-endocardialization technique, the limited apical left ventriculotomy approach and device closure. The sandwich technique was introduced for the closure of muscular ventricular septal defects (VSD) by sandwiching the septum between two felt patches placed in the left and right ventricle. This technique requires neither the transection of muscular trabeculae nor ventriculotomy.

Treatment of mediastinitis due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a renal dysfunction patient undergoing adjustments to the linezolid dose.

This study is the first case report of the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) mediastinitis using therapeutic drug monitoring of the serum and wound exudate concentrations of linezolid in a renal dysfunction patient. In the present study, the serum trough concentration of linezolid was maintained between 2 and 7 μg/mL. Therapeutic drug monitoring dosage adjustments may be especially useful in patients with renal dysfunction and severe MRSA infection.

Primary cardiac malignant lymphoma: survival for 13 years after surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy.

We report a patient who has survived for 13 years after surgical resection of a cardiac malignant lymphoma. A 73-year-old woman underwent partial resection of a tumor occluding the tricuspid valve, which arose from the right atrium. The pathologic diagnosis was diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

[Construction of a heart team using network attached storage].

There has been recent emphasis on the importance of an interdisciplinary heart team to allow active communication between physicians and surgeons regarding the management of cardiovascular diseases. Construction of a heart team requires a system that enables doctors to rapidly review patients' data when exchanging opinions. We tried to build up a heart team by sharing patients' data via network attached storage( NAS).

Current topics in surgery for isolated total anomalous pulmonary venous connection.

Surgical correction of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) remains a challenge, with reported early mortality rates of up to 20%. In this review article, we describe several topics, including surgery for neonates, diagnoses with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), and primary sutureless repair. Several studies have reported mortality rates of around 10%, and demonstrated unchanged hospital mortality in neonates, despite improvement of the overall mortality of cohorts including older patients.

Surgical treatment of complete anterolateral papillary muscle rupture following acute myocardial infarction.

Papillary muscle rupture is a lethal complication of after acute myocardial infarction. We report the successful surgical management of complete anterolateral papillary muscle rupture associated with cardiogenic shock in an 80-year-old woman. The patient was admitted with the sudden onset of chest pain and dyspnea.

Effect of exogenous Oct4 overexpression on cardiomyocyte differentiation of human amniotic mesenchymal cells.

Regenerative therapy is a new strategy for the end-stage heart failure; however, the ideal cell source has not yet been established for this therapy. We expected that the amnion might be an ideal cell source for cardiac regenerative therapy and that the differentiation potency of the human amnion mesenchymal cells (hAMCs) could be improved by overexpression of Oct4, a key factor that maintains the undifferentiated state. A plasmid vector was made by insertion of the Oct4 open reading frame (ORF) under control of a cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter (pCMV-hOct4) and transfected into hAMCs by electroporation.

Selective isolation of nanog-positive human amniotic mesenchymal cells and differentiation into cardiomyocytes.

Adult cardiomyocytes have little ability to regenerate, thus cardiac regeneration therapy represents a potential method for treating severe heart failure. Human amniotic mesenchymal cells (hAMCs) have the potential to be a useful cell source for cardiac regeneration therapy. We attempted to isolate stem cells from hAMCs and differentiate them into cardiomyocytes.

Management of pulmonary venous obstruction.

Although improved surgical techniques have led to significantly better outcomes of surgery for total anomalous pulmonary venous connection, the risk of progressive pulmonary venous obstruction continues to be a clinical problem. Both obstructed total anomalous pulmonary venous connection and post-repair pulmonary venous obstruction are associated with a significant risk of recurrent obstruction or death, requiring reoperation for stenosis. In general, side to side anastomosis of the pulmonary venous confluence to the functional left atrium has been performed for supracardiac and infracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection.

Experimental mitral valve plasty under the beating heart guided by real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography.

Background: This study examines whether real-time 3-dimensional echocardiography can provide an image resolution to serve as a substitute for optical visualization in performing mitral valve plasty.

Methods: Three pigs were used in this study. A 3-dimensional echocardiographic system was evaluated on an epicardial surface.

Predictors of early postoperative cerebral infarction after isolated off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: Risk factors associated with cerebral infarction within 7 days after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting require further statistical elucidation.

Methods: From January 1997 to July 2006, off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting was performed in 576 patients at Toyama University Hospital. Factors including previous cerebral infarction, lesions in head and neck vessels, preoperative cerebral ischemic symptoms, intraaortic balloon pump use, number of coronary lesions, number of coronary bypasses, sites of coronary bypasses, number of proximal anastomoses in the ascending aorta, use of aortic no-touch procedure, partial aortic clamping, automatic proximal anastomosis devices, and a proximal seal system were compared retrospectively between patients with and without early cerebral infarction.