• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.331-336
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• 2009

Background: Open surgical repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms was initiated by Dubost in 1952. Despite the rapid expansion of percutaneous endovascular repair, open surgical repair is still recognized for curative intent. We retrospectively analyzed surgical outcome, complications, and mortality-related factors for patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms over a 6 year period. Material and Method: We analyzed 18 patients who underwent surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysms between March 2002 and March 2008. The indications for surgery were rupture, a maximal aortic diameter >60 mm, medically intractable hypertension, or pain. Result: The mean age was $66.6{\pm}9.3$ years (range, $49\sim81$ years). Twelve patients (66.7%) were males a 6 patients were females. Extension of the aneurysm superior to the renal artery existed in 6 patients (33.3%), and extension to the iliac artery existed in 13 patients (72.2%). Five patients (27.8%) had ruptured aortic aneurysms. The mean maximal diameter of the aorta was $72.2{\pm}12.9$ mm (range, $58\sim109$ mm). Surgery was performed by a midline laparotomy, and 6 patients underwent emergency surgery. The mean total ischemic time from aorta clamping to revascularization was $82{\pm}42$ minutes (range, $35\sim180$ minutes). The mortality rate was 16.7%; the mortality rate for patients with ruptured aneurysms was 60%, and the mortality rate for patients with unruptured aneurysms was 0%. The postoperative complications included one each of renal failure, femoral artery and vein occlusion, and wound infection. The patients who were discharged had a long-term survival of $34{\pm}26$ months (range, $4\sim90$ months). Rupture and emergency surgery had a statistically significant mortality-related factor (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Emergency surgery for ruptured aortic aneurysms continues to have a high mortality, but unruptured cases are repaired with relative safety. Successfully operated patients had long-term survival. Even though endovascular aortic repair is the trend for abdominal aortic aneurysms, aggressive application should be determined with care. Experience and systemic support of each center is important in the treatment plan.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.373-376
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• 2008

Surgery is the general treatment modality for thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysm combined with traumatic aortic rupture. However, we should select other treatment modalities for patients who can't tolerate surgery due to severe multiple injuries. Herein we report on a case of successful stent-graft treatment for a traumatic descending thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysm combined with severe multiple trauma, and we include a review of the relevant literature.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.38 no.10 s.255
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• pp.710-713
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• 2005

Acute abdominal Aortic occlusion is rare but it is a vascular emergency with high mortality and morbidity. There­fore, delay in diagnosis can have severe impact on the prognosis. A 60-year-old women complained of paresthesia, paralysis, and severe pain in bilateral lower extremities on 13th day after open heart surgery for mitral stenosis, atrial fibrillation, coronary arterial stenosis, tricuspid regurgitation, and atrial septal defect. Her skin was mottled and cool from the umbilicus to the feet, and there were no palpable pulses in the lower exteremities. We diagnosed an acute abdominal aortic occlusion using the Multi-Detector Row Spiral Computed Tomography and successfully treated the problem with emergent thrombo-embolectomy and Aortobifemoral bypass.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.332-334
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• 1995

Two hypertensive men with DeBakey type III dissection were admitted due to acute onset of leg ischemia.One patient had ischemia of both legs,The other patient had ischemia of the right leg.Angiograms showed occlusion of aortic bifurcation in one patient and occlusion of right common iliac artery and right renal artery in the other patient.The first patient who had ischemia of both legs was relieved by axillo-bifemoral bypass operation and the second patient with right leg ischemia by femoro-femoral bypass.The dissection of the aorta was successfully managed by conservative measures including hypotensive medication.The bypass grafts was functioning well one year later.The aortic dissection should not be overlooked as an etiology of acute onset of ischemia of the lower extremities.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.5 s.262
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• pp.411-414
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• 2006

Innominate artery injury by blunt chest trauma is rarely reported. This report describes a 40-year-old male who had innominate artery dissection and pseudoaneurysm caused by blunt chest trauma and was treated successfully by ascending aorta to innominate artery bypass graft. The patient recovered without any complications and was discharged one week after the operation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.111-114
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• 2009

Aorto-iliac artery aneurysms are very rare and the natural course of this disease is not well known. However, the risk of rupture is high and the mortality rate after rupture is extremely high. Preserving the pelvic circulation is important for the treatment of aorto-iliac artery aneurysms. We report here on a case of a patient suffering with aorto-iliac artery aneurysms, and these were treated by a hybrid endovascular operation that combined an open bypass of both iliac vessels with endovascular repair.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.529-532
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• 2014

An eight-day-old neonate was diagnosed with dextro-transposition of the great arteries, atrial septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, and a single sinus origin of the coronary arteries. The single coronary artery originated from the left sinus (sinus 2), had a proximal left circumflex arterial branch, and passed anteriorly to the right side of the aorta, further branching into the right coronary and left anterior descending arteries. We successfully performed an arterial switch operation and coronary transfer by tube graft reconstruction with autologous aortic tissue to treat the dextro-transposition of the great arteries and atrial septal defect with a single-sinus origin of the coronary arteries.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.413-420
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• 2016

Doctors are often faced with difficult decisions and uncertainty when patients need a certain treatment. They routinely rely on the scientific literature, in addition to their knowledge, experience, and patient preferences. Clinical practice guidelines are created with the intention of facilitating decision-making. They may offer concise instructions for the diagnosis, management (medical or surgical treatments), and prevention of specific diseases or conditions. All information included in the final version are the result of a systematic review of scientific articles and an assessment of the benefits and costs of alternative care options. The final document attempts to meet the needs of most patients in most circumstances and clinicians, aware of these recommendations, should always make individualized treatment decisions. In this review, we attempted to define the intent and applicability of clinical practice guidelines, expert consensus documents, and registry studies, focusing on the management of patients with thoracic aortic disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.424-427
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• 2010

Recently, stent-graft insertion has been widely used along with surgery for treatment of thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysm. However, use of stent-graft insertion is controversial in descending aortic dissection. We report here on our experience of a patient who received a stent-graft for descending aortic dissection that nearly ruptured. Based on CT findings at three months follow up, results were satisfactory.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.285-290
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• 1981

Bacterial endocarditis is a well-recognized complication of prosthetic valve replacement. Postoperative fungal endocarditis of aortitis has been reported with increasing frequency. Aspergillus endocarditis or aortitis following open heart surgery has been reported in several patients. The difficulty in the diagnosis of this type of infection, the problems of therapy of prosthetic valve endocarditis0 and the relative ineffectiveness of antifungal agents account for the high mortality. Recently, we have experienced a patient with aspergillus aortitis after replacement of mitral valve. The diagnosis was finally established by histotogical examination of emboli removed from the femoral artery. The patient died after second open heart surgery for replacement of ascending aorta.