Surgical endovascular stent grafting for a ruptured penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer of the aortic arch.

Penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer (PAU) is defined as an atherosclerotic lesion in which an ulceration occurs in the diseased aortic intima leading to disruption of the internal elastic lamina. It may cause a pseudoaneurysm formation or transmural aortic rupture. We describe a patient in whom a ruptured PAU in the distal aortic arch was treated successfully by a surgical endovascular stent graft.

Trial of autotransplantation of cryopreserved thyroid tissue for postoperative hypothyroidism in patients with Graves' disease.

Background: Some patients with Graves' disease who select surgical therapy so they can discontinue antithyroid medication require lifelong levo-thyroxin (l-T4) replacement therapy because of irreversible postoperative hypothyroidism. The aim of this study was to enable the replacement of absent thyroid hormone through autotransplanted thyroid tissue that had been cryopreserved since the initial thyroid operation, and to release these patients from lifelong l-T4 administration.

Study Design: At the time of subtotal thyroidectomy for Graves' disease, the surgical specimen was partially cryopreserved at -196 degrees C until it was used for autotransplantation.