Tetraplegia After Aortic Arch Surgery in Patients With Cervical Spinal Stenosis.

We report 2 rare cases of tetraplegia after total aortic arch replacement with frozen elephant trunk that were attributable to cervical spinal stenosis. Cervical spinal stenosis can increase the vulnerability of the spinal cord to ischemia and may increase the risk of spinal cord injury in operation with circulatory arrest.

[Aortic Valve Translocation for Severe Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis with Aortic Annular Abscess].

We report a case of successful aortic valve translocation in a 71-year-old man with severe prosthetic valve endocarditis and an aortic annular abscess. Six years earlier, the patient had undergone aortic valve replacement for aortic regurgitation and coronary artery bypass grafting to the left anterior descending artery with a saphenous vein. Moreover, 4 years earlier, he had undergone total arch replacement for chronic aortic dissection.

Traumatic Tricuspid Insufficiency Requiring Valve Repair in an Acute Setting.

Tricuspid insufficiency due to penetrating cardiac trauma is rare. Patients with tricuspid insufficiency due to trauma can tolerate this abnormality for months or even years. We report a case of a 66-year-old female with penetrating cardiac trauma on the right side of her heart that required tricuspid valve repair in an acute setting.

[Surgical management of metastatic colon cancer causing obstruction of the right ventricular outflow tract].

Metastatic cardiac tumors are commonly detected during autopsy. However, they are seldom diagnosed during life, and surgical resection is rarely indicated. Among the malignant tumors, colon cancer rarely metastasizes to the heart.

Late complications and pathological findings of the arterial switch operation.

We describe aortic root dilatation, severe aortic regurgitation, and pulmonary artery stenosis that were accidentally diagnosed 23 years after the arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries in situs inversus. We successfully performed the modified Bentall procedure and pulmonary artery reconstruction. The pathology of the dilated aortic root revealed intimal atherosclerosis and linear necrosis of the tunica media, suggesting the vulnerability of the pulmonary artery to systemic pressure.

[Toward a paradigm for universal procedures of valve repair].

We developed novel methods to simplify valve repair techniques.Adequate exposure is crucial for mitral valve surgery. The right side of the pericardium is sutured to the chest wall, and both cava are mobilized and hitched up to the left.