Off-Pump Multilayered Sutureless Repair for a Left Ventricular Blowout Rupture after Aortic Dissection Repair

A left ventricular (LV) free wall rupture is a highly lethal condition. A 75-year-old female who experienced chest pain was diagnosed as having an acute aortic dissection Stanford type A and underwent emergent surgery. Under cardiopulmonary bypass with LV venting through the right superior pulmonary vein, a proximal aortic stamp was formed. The patient was cooled, selective antegrade brain perfusion was performed, and a hemiarch repair was performed. After the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit, her blood pressure suddenly fell to 50 mmHg. She had a blowout rupture in the left ventricular anterolateral free wall. Since the bleeding hall was not large and the damage to the surrounding left ventricular tissue was not very wide, an off-pump multilayered sutureless repair was performed by using three layers of collagen fleece squares with fibrinogen-based impregnation (TachoComb;CSL Behring, Tokyo, Japan) and three layers of gelatin-resorcin-formalin glue reinforced by an equine pericardial patch (Xenomedica;Edwards Lifesciences, LLC, Irvine, CA). The blow-out rupture seemed to be caused by perioperative myocardial infarction generated by the compression of the left ventricular vent to the LV lateral wall. The patient was free from re-rupture or aneurysm enlargement. The thickness of the hemostatic material seemed to help control the bulging of the aneurysm and to prevent further LV aneurysm enlargement and re-rupture.

Morbidity of Open Saphenous Vein Harvesting after Preoperative Ultrasonic Mapping

Preoperative echography of a saphenous vein graft (SVG) was studied. In 58 cases of consecutive coronary artery bypass grafting, 31 patients underwent SVG echography. Preoperative assessment revealed vein caliber, branching, or varicose saphenous veins. The location of the saphenous vein was marked. Saphenous veins were harvested by the open harvest technique, and the caliber of the veins and the availability of the anastomosis device were recorded. Postoperative morbidity was recorded. Preoperative findings revealed that four (6.5%) of 62 femoral saphenous veins were estimated as “not graftable” because of being a varicose vein or having a small caliber. Seven of 32 lower saphenous veins were estimated as “not graftable”. The mean discrepancy of the caliber was 0.6 mm undersized with preoperative estimation. During harvesting, one of 31 patients had a wrong marking. We were able to use all harvested veins. The morbidity of saphenous harvesting was observed in two (6.5%) of 31 patients. One patient whose marking was wrong had minor skin necrosis. Another patient experienced a hematoma because of the excess effect of warfarin. Preoperative ultrasonic mapping of the saphenous vein reduced useless harvesting, provided information concerning anastomosis device availability, and seemed to reduce morbidity because dissection can be minimal.

Lung Injury Resulting from Fluted Silastic Soft Drain Extraction under Negative Pressure Suction

We experienced two cases of lung injury resulting from fluted silastic drain extraction under reservoir-generated negative pressure suction. In the first case, a 67-year-old man underwent coronary artery bypass grafting. A 19 Fr BLAKE drain was placed at the pericardial cavity, the mediastinum, and the left thoracic cavity. All three drains were connected to J-VAC reservoirs. After removing the drains (which maintained the negative pressure), subcutaneous emphysema and hemopneumothorax occur. A trocar catheter was inserted. Bleeding and the air leak terminated within a day. In the second case, a 73-year-old man underwent aortic valve replacement. Right pneumothorax occurred after the removal of the pleural cavity drain, which maintained the negative pressure generated by the reservoir. We inserted a trocar catheter, and the air leak terminated within a day. We hypothesized that the reservoir-generated negative pressure causes the pleura to enter the groove of the drain and become damaged during extraction. We stopped using a reservoir to connect to the fluted silastic drain placed at the pleural cavity and removed the negative pressure when extracting the pleural cavity drain. Since implementing this change, we have not experienced a similar lung injury in more than 500 cardiac surgery patients.

Fibrin Sealant Patch to Treat Dialysis-Associated Hemorrhagic Pericarditis

A 73-year-old male patient with a 3-year history of hemodialysis was admitted for the treatment of pericardial effusion. Echocardiography suggested a diagnosis of effusive pericarditis. Pericardiocentesis was performed several times. Six weeks after the admission, the patient developed cardiac tamponade. Surgical pericardiotomy showed the epicardium had a diffuse shaggy and hemorrhagic surface. To control diffuse oozing, fibrin sealant patches (Tachosil;CSL Behring, Tokyo, Japan) were attached to the epicardium. Oozing was then controlled.

Papillary Fibroelastoma of the Papillary Muscle of the Tricuspid Valve: Reconstruction of the Papillary Muscle

Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma is the third most frequent primary cardiac tumor, after myxoma and fibroma. A papillary fibroelastoma that arises from the papillary muscle is rare. We removed a papillary fibroelastoma located at the anterior papillary muscle of the tricuspid valve. The papillary muscle needed reconstruction. We used the loop technique to adjust the length of the papillary muscle and performed annuloplasty by using an artificial ring.