Surgical reconstruction of the dissected innominate artery using extra-anatomic aorto-axillar bypass.

The innominate artery is the most commonly affected supra-aortic vessel in the acute ascending aorta dissection. The brachiocephalic vessels, separated from the true lumen, need reimplantation. The fragile vessel tissue might be challenging to reconstruct.

Mid-term patency of the inverted left internal thoracic artery conduit.

In order to expand the revascularization of the left anterior descending coronary artery, we have applied the inverted left internal thoracic artery (left internal thoracic artery [LITA] transected near its origin, thus supplied by retrograde flow from superior epigastric and musculophrenic arteries) in carefully selected cases (four patients). The 64-slice multidetector row computed tomographic scans performed postoperatively (range, 6 to 40 days), as well as the scans performed in the follow-up period (range, 18 to 35 months) showed preserved inverted LITA conduits with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) 3 flow in all patients.

Coronary artery surgery in a patient with grossly emphysematous lung.

The pedicled left internal thoracic artery graft is the mandatory conduit in coronary artery bypass surgery. A grossly emphysematous lung may sometimes present a significant problem for positioning of the pedicled left internal thoracic artery conduit. An inverted pedicled left internal thoracic artery graft (internal thoracic artery transected near its origin, thus supplied by retrograde flow from superior epigastric and musculophrenic arteries) might occasionally be the conduit of choice for those patients.

How to use the left internal thoracic artery which has been damaged during harvesting?

The established superiority of the internal thoracic artery as a coronary arterial conduit has led to its mandatory use in coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. Therefore, the damage of the internal thoracic artery during harvesting is an abysmal complication, after which the conduit is usually discarded. An alternative approach is presented here, which has allowed us to use the distal two thirds of the proximally damaged left internal thoracic artery as an in situ (with retrograde blood supply from superior epigastric and musculophrenic arteries), reversed arterial conduit to revascularize the left anterior descending coronary artery.

[Posterior cusp enlargement in mitral valve reconstructive surgery for restrictive valve insufficiency--case report].

Introduction: According to Carpentier classification, group III of mitral insufficiency is caused by the restrictive motion of the mitral valve. A rheumatic process and a coronary disease are the main causes. It is very important to examine the valve precisely, to define deformities and aetiology in order to make such a valve functional.

[Reconstructive surgery of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis with dynamic obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract causing severe mitral insufficiency].

Hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM) is an idiopathic disease frequently associated with systolic anterior motion (SAM). The anterior leaflet of mitral valve is sucked by Ventury effect into the left ventricle outflow tract making subaortic stenosis more severe and producing mitral insufficiency at the same time. Septal myectomy along with mitral valve replacement has been the treatment of choice for a long time.