• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.554-557
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• 2021

Surgeons are increasingly using the right mini-thoracotomy approach to perform aortic valve surgery. This approach has shown better results in terms of blood loss and length of hospital stay than the sternotomy approach. For selected patients requiring aortic root and ascending aorta surgery, a right mini-thoracotomy approach may prove beneficial. In our technique, we placed a 5-cm horizontal skin incision in the right second intercostal space. Femoro-femoral cardiopulmonary bypass was established. A valved aortic conduit was used for aortic root replacement. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, with a short hospital stay. This technique offers a minimally invasive approach to aortic root and ascending aorta surgery with easy adaptability and reduced costs.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.819-822
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• 1997

Aortic valve replacement with aortic allograft has been considered a treatment of choice for aortic valve disease secondary to bacterial endocarditis because of its good homodynamic performance and higher resistance to infection. The aortic root replacement technique might be superior to the subcoronary allograft implantation technique with regard to aortic regurgitation. A 46 yea,rs old male patient had acute aortic regurgitation with progressing heart failure secondary to acute bacterial endocarditis. The patient underwent emergent aortic root replacement using 20 mm aortic allograft. At operation, right coronary cusp perforation and heavy calcification of commissure between right and left coronary cusp were observed. The patient recovered well and postoperative echocardiography demonstrated no aortic regurgitation. Inflammatory signs were subsided after 8 weeks of antibiotics therapy. Medically uncontrolled acute bacterial endocarditis was treated successfully by aortic root replacement using aortic homograft.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.10
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• pp.868-871
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• 2004

A 42 year old male was operated with aortic root abscess and pseudoaneurysm. Aortic valve vegetations which measured $8\times5$ cm and root abscess were removed and debrided. We reconstructed root and noncoronary sinus with autopericardium. Antibiotics were administered for 4 weeks. In general, Aortic root abscess recurs frequently and mortality is high. It is usually requires early surgical eradication with antibiotics medication.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.292-293
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• 2011

Surgical repair of the tetralogy of Fallot is one of the most successful operations in the treatment of congenital heart diseases. We report the case of a 65-year-old man who had an aortic valve replacement at the time of complete repair of the tetralogy of Fallot at the age of forty-three. He subsequently had progressive aortic root and ascending aorta dilation to 9 cm. The aortic root and ascending aorta replacement was done using a composite valve-graft and was performed along with other procedures. Thus, meticulous follow-up of aortic root and ascending aorta after corrective surgery for tetralogy of Fallot is recommended following initial curative surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.250-257
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• 2016

Background: Generalization of standardized surgical techniques to treat aortic valve (AV) and aortic root diseases has benefited large numbers of patients. As a consequence of the proliferation of patients receiving aortic root surgeries, surgeons are more frequently challenged by reoperative aortic root procedures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of redo-aortic root replacement (ARR). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 66 patients (36 male; mean age, $44.5{\pm}9.5years$) who underwent redo-ARR following AV or aortic root procedures between April 1995 and June 2015. Results: Emergency surgeries comprised 43.9% (n=29). Indications for the redo-ARR were aneurysm (n=12), pseudoaneurysm (n=1), or dissection (n=6) of the residual native aortic sinus in 19 patients (28.8%), native AV dysfunction in 8 patients (12.1%), structural dysfunction of an implanted bioprosthetic AV in 19 patients (28.8%), and infection of previously replaced AV or proximal aortic grafts in 30 patients (45.5%). There were 3 early deaths (4.5%). During follow-up (median, 54.65 months; quartile 1-3, 17.93 to 95.71 months), there were 14 late deaths (21.2%), and 9 valve-related complications including reoperation of the aortic root in 1 patient, infective endocarditis in 3 patients, and hemorrhagic events in 5 patients. Overall survival and event-free survival rates at 5 years were $81.5%{\pm}5.1%$ and $76.4%{\pm}5.4%$, respectively. Conclusion: Despite technical challenges and a high rate of emergency conditions in patients requiring redo-ARR, early and late outcomes were acceptable in these patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.285-289
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• 2000

Background: For AVR using conventional prosthetic valves in adult patients with a narrow aortic root, aortic root enlargement is necessary to reduce postoperative pressure gradient across the aortic valve (ΔP). An evaluation of early and mid-term results of aortic root enlargement with AVR and echocardiographic follow up of ΔP and left ventricular function was performed. Method: From Aug. 1991 to Feb. 1998, eighteen patients aged 17 to 59 years(mean, 38$\pm$12 years) underwent Manouguian procedure with AVR. Aortic annular circumstance was enlarged 10.0mm to 18.0mm(mean, 12.6$\pm$6.3mm). Eight patients(44.0%) had NYHA class III status before operation, and seven cases of them underwent concomitant MVR. Valve pathology was ASr in 6 cases, AS in 4 cases, nd ASr+MSr in 8 cases. Replaced valve size was 21mm in 8 cases and 23 mm in 10 cases, and St. Jude Medical mechanical valve was used in 10 cases and Carbomedics in 8 cases. Result: Follow-up duration was 6 to 57 months (mean, 26$\pm$18 months), and total follow-up was 287 patient-year. There were one hospital death and one late death, therefore, actuarial survival rate was 85.7% at 56 months. Peak ΔP wad decreased significantly at postoperative mid-term period as 13$\pm$5mmHg, compared with thepreoperative one (42$\pm$8mmHg) (p<0.01). LVM(gm/$m^2$) was also diminished as 35.8%(115$\pm$36gm/$m^2$)at postoperative mid-term period, compared with preoperative one (179$\pm$56gm/$m^2$)(p<0.05). Conclusion: There were no specific complications related to the procedure. And we could have adequate enlargement of aortic annulus to suitable prosthetic valve that have no effect of patient-prosthese mismatch.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.890-900
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• 2021

Objective: To identify the association between morphological and functional characteristics of the bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and bicuspid aortopathy and to identify the determinants of aortic dilatation using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and cardiac computed tomography (CCT). Materials and Methods: This study included 312 subjects (mean [SD] age, 52.7 [14.3] years; 227 males [72.8%]) who underwent TTE and CCT. The BAVs were classified by anterior-posterior (BAV-AP) or right-left (BAV-RL) orientation of the cusps and divided according to the presence (raphe+) or absence of a raphe (raphe-) based on the CCT and intraoperative findings. The dimensions of the sinus of Valsalva and the proximal ascending aorta were measured by CCT. We assessed the determinants of aortic root and proximal ascending aortic dilatation (size index > 2.1 cm/m²) by Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results: Of the 312 patients, BAV-AP was present in 188 patients (60.3%), and 185 patients (59.3%) were raphe+. Moderate-to-severe aortic stenosis (AS) was the most common hemodynamic abnormality (54.8%). The most common type of aortopathy was the combined dilated root and mid-ascending aortic phenotype (62.5%). On multivariable analysis, age and AS severity were significantly associated with aortic root dilatation (p < 0.05), and age, sex, and AS severity were significantly associated with ascending aortic dilatation (p < 0.05). However, the orientation of the cusps, presence of a raphe, and severity of aortic regurgitation were not associated with aortic root and ascending aortic dilatation. Conclusion: BAV morphological characteristics were not determinants of aortic dilatation. Age, sex, and AS severity were predictors of bicuspid aortopathy. Therefore, age, sex, and AS severity, rather than valve morphology, need to be considered when planning treatment for BAV patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.445-448
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• 2023

A 25-year-old man returned to Seoul National University Children's Hospital with mild dyspnea on exertion. He had undergone an arterial switch operation at 1 month after birth to correct a complete transposition of the great arteries and a ventricular septal defect. When the patient was 15 years old, dilatation of the neo-aortic sinus and annulus was first identified; since then, it had gradually increased. Given the young age of the patient and the degree of aortic regurgitation (AR), which was mild to moderate, we opted to perform a valve-sparing neo-aortic root replacement with aortic valve repair. Postoperative echocardiography showed successful reductions in the sizes of the aortic sinus and annulus, with only mild AR remaining.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.663-666
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• 1985

Whatever a surgeon choose aortic prosthesis in aortic stenosis, it will always provoke some degree of obstruction to flow due to its smaller effective orifice area to tissue annulus. Occasionally, we meet small aortic annulus to his or her body surface area in aortic valve replacement. The small annulus remains a problem in that both tissue and mechanical prosthesis have significant pressure gradients between LV and aorta in resting or exercising states. In these circumstances, diverse surgical procedures, such as tilting disc prosthesis, supraannular position of aortic prosthesis, and enlargement of aortic root [including aortoventriculoplasty, translocation of aortic valve, & double outlet of LV by valved conduit], were applied. We experienced one case of aortic stenosis with small aortic annulus. Systolic pressure gradients between LV & aorta were 90 mmHg. Diameter of annulus was 19 mm. So we performed patch enlargement of aortic root by Manouguian and AVR with St. Jude medical valve 23 mm.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.436-442
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• 2017

Background: Dissection flaps in acute type A aortic dissection typically extend into the root, most frequently into the non-coronary sinus (NCS). The weakened root can be susceptible not only to surgical trauma, but also to future dilatation because of its thinner layers. Herein, we describe a new technique that we named the "neo-adventitia" technique to strengthen the weakened aortic root. Methods: From 2012 to 2016, 27 patients with acute type A aortic dissection underwent supracommissural graft replacement using our neo-adventitia technique. After we applied biologic glue between the dissected layers, we wrapped the entire NCS and the partial left and right coronary sinuses on the outside using a rectangular Dacron tube graft that served as neo-adventitia to reinforce the dissected weakened wall. Then, fixation with subannular stitches stabilized the annulus of the NCS. Results: There were 4 cases of operative mortality, but all survivors were discharged with aortic regurgitation (AR) classified as mild or less. Follow-up echocardiograms were performed in 10 patients. Of these, 9 showed mild or less AR, and 1 had moderate AR without root dilatation. There were no significant differences in the size of the aortic annulus (p=0.57) or root (p=0.10) between before discharge and the last follow-up echocardiograms, and no reoperations on the aortic roots were required during the follow-up period. Conclusion: This technique is easy and efficient for reinforcing and stabilizing weakened roots. Furthermore, this technique may be an alternative for restoring and maintaining the geometry of the aortic root. An externally reinforced NCS could be expected to resist future dilatation.