[Left Atrium Appendage Aneurysm Late After Suture Exclusion:Report of a Case].

Left atrial appendage closure is widely performed in cardiac surgery to prevent intracardiac thrombus in patients with atrial fibrillation. Herein, we report the surgical case of an 80-year-old man whose left atrial appendage became aneurysmic long after undergoing suture exclusion. At the age of 67, he underwent mitral valve annuloplasty and left atrial appendage suture exclusion for mitral regurgitation and chronic atrial fibrillation at our institution.

[Mitral Valve Replacement for Eclipsed Mitral Regurgitation with Multiple Episodes of Acute Exacerbation and Remission].

Eclipsed mitral regurgitation is a relatively new disease concept reported in recent years, of which is not fully elucidated. A 73-year-old female had repeated episodes of heart failure of unknown cause. During cardiac catheterization and echocardiography performed, mitral regurgitation suddenly worsened and improved in a few minutes.

[Acute Aortic Dissection with Rapidly Enlarged Aneurysm after Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteremia].

The patient is a 62-year-old man. He was referred to our hospital from a nearby clinic with a complaint of chest and back pain, and was urgently admitted with a diagnosis of Stanford type A (Debakey typeⅢbR) acute aortic dissection. During the course of his treatment, he developed a urinary tract infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Ruptured type A aortic dissection with saddle pulmonary embolism-like appearance on computed tomography angiography.

We present a case of ruptured type A acute aortic dissection with pulmonary trunk compression by mediastinal hematoma. This condition mimicked a pulmonary embolism on the early arterial phase of computed tomography angiography, whereas the correct diagnosis was determined from the late arterial phase and unenhanced computed tomography. We highlight the importance of carefully interpreting triphasic computed tomography angiography to assess the status of aortic dissection.

Chronic contained rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm that developed from chronic abdominal aortic dissection.

A chronic contained rupture is an extremely rare subtype of abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture. We report the case of a 59-year-old man with a medical history of traumatic lumber fracture 7 years ago. He presented to us with an asymptomatic irregular abdominal aortic aneurysm, and surgery was performed 1 week after he was hospitalized.

Type A Acute Aortic Dissection in a Patient with Patent Ductus Arteriosus.

Cardiac or aortic surgeries requiring cardiopulmonary bypass in combination with patent ductus arteriosus in adults present a special problem that requires a tailored approach. We report a case of ruptured type A acute aortic dissection in a 73-year-old woman with patent ductus arteriosus. In this case, we highlight that transpulmonary direct ductus arteriosus closure and subsequent frozen elephant deployment with total arch replacement are reasonable and reliable treatments for type A acute aortic dissection in a patient with patent ductus arteriosus.

[Adhesion Prevention Effect of Circular Pericardial Drainage].

Pericardial adhesions can pose serious problems during cardiac reoperation. Here, we report three cases where circular pericardial drainage (CPD) was performed during the initial surgery and no pericardial adhesions were found during reoperation. All three patients had initially undergone an aortic valve replacement with CPD.

Calcified Aortic Wall Removal for Dysphagia Aortica Caused by Chronic Traumatic Aortic Pseudoaneurysm.

In this study, we report a case of a 45-year-old man with dysphagia aortica secondary to chronic traumatic aortic pseudoaneurysm of the aortic isthmus. He had been involved in a motor vehicle accident 27 years earlier. Computed tomography demonstrated a severely calcified aortic pseudoaneurysm of the aortic isthmus that compressed the esophagus extrinsically.

[Three-dimensional Anatomical Anastomosis in Total Arch Replacement].

The ascending aorta and the aortic arch curve 3-dimensionally from the right front of the heart to its left rear. If this curve is replaced or connected with a straight artificial graft, the curve will lose its natural shape. Here, we reconstructed the ascending aorta and the aortic arch with 2 different types of grafts, and devised a 3-dimensional(3D) structure by anastomosis.

[Usefulness of echocardiography for detecting prosthetic valve dysfunction; report of a case].

A 78-year-old woman with a history of mitral valve stenosis underwent open mitral commissurotomy in 1976. In 1990, she underwent mitral valve replacement (Medtronic-Hall 29 mm), tricuspid annuloplasty(DeVega method), and pacemaker implantation for bradycardiac atrial fibrillation. However, in June 2012, she developed anemia of unknown cause.