• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.99-102
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• 2024

This article presents a straightforward hybrid arch technique for treating residual type B aortic dissecting aneurysms following type A repair (replacement of the ascending aorta) that employs a frozen elephant trunk (FET) straight vascular prosthesis. The debranch-first method involves only cutting and sewing the previous ascending graft, inserting the FET from zone 0, and debranching the arch vessels using a trifurcated graft. This technique is less invasive as it eliminates the need to manipulate the dissected distal arch aneurysm. We successfully applied this technique to 3 patients, with no instances of in-hospital death, stroke, or paraplegia. The debranch-first technique, combined with zone-0 FET insertion, simplifies the redo repair of residual type B aortic dissection.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.427-430
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• 2003

The surgical managements for the complicated aortic disease is still one of most challenging fields for the cardiac surgeons. The endovascular stent graft procedure has been tried recently to avoid serious complications caused by traditional graft replacement technique. However, indications for the procedures or management methods for the complications have not been clearly elucidated so far. We report a case of successful management for the newly-onset aneurysmal dilation of the distal aorta after an endovascular stent graft procedure in a patient with acute aortic dissection type IIIB.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.906-911
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• 1995

From January 1991 to January 1995, 11 patients with aortic diseases underwent various surgical repairs. The age at operation ranged from 26 years to 63 years[ mean=50.9 years . The disease entities included 8 aortic dissections[ type I in 4, type II in 2 and type III in 2 cases , 2 Marfan`s syndrome with annuloaortic ectasia and 1 desecending thoracic aortic aneurysm The operative procedures we tried were 3 Bentall`s operation, 5 graft replacement of ascending aorta, and 3 graft interposition in descending thoracic aorta.Overall hospital mortality rate is 36.3%[4/11 . And causes of death are pump weaning failure in 2 cases and multiorgan failure in 2 cases. It was that 2 sternal dehiscence & mediastinitis, 1 acute renal failure, 2 hypoxic brain damages and 2 postoperative psychosis were complicated. Recently we tried surgical repair of aortic dissection five out of 6 cases using total circulatory arrest with deep hypothermia at 14$^{\circ}C$. Total circulatory arrest time ranged from 18 to 26 minutes[ mean 22.2 minutes , and mean aortic cross-clamping time was 48.2 minutes. One of 5 patient died on the 7th postoperative day due to multiorgan failure. Mortality of patients with TCA was 20%[1/5 , and it of remainders was 50%[3/6 . Our result for surgical repair using total circulatory arrest with deep hypothermia is satisfactory on the basis of our clinical data.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.194-198
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• 2010

Intramural hematoma of the aorta (IMH) is the precursor or a variant of a classic aortic dissection where hemorrhage occurs within the aorta wall in the absence of an initial intimal tear. IMH has a high rate of mortality and morbidity. The optimal therapy for IMH is uncertain, yet the involvement of the ascending aorta is usually considered as an indication for surgery due to the associated risk of rupture or cardiac tamponade. We report here on a case of a 71-year-old man who presented with syncope. Because of misdiagnosis, he underwent computed tomography (CT) after 5 hrs from arriving to the ER. Computed tomography of the aorta revealed intramural hematoma of the ascending aorta with cardiac tamponade. He also had vascular complications such as acute renal failure and visceral ischemia. We performed emergency graft replacement of the total arch and ascending aorta. He was discharged without complication on postoperative day 14.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 2003

As classical acute aortic dissection, atherosclerotic penetrating ulcers and intramural hematoma have different pathophysiology and natural history, treatment strategy should be different and, therefore, accurate differential diagnosis is necessary. However, these three aortic diseases may be indistinguishable by clinical observation and even by various diagnostic modalities such as cardiac echocardiography, CT and MRI. The patients was a 71-year-old female with chief complaints of anterior chest pain, nausea and vomiting which occurred suddenly 3 days before admission. CT angiographic with 3 dimensional reconstruction shows intramural hematoma in ascending aorta, aortic arch, descending thoracic aorta and right brachiocephalic trunk, heompericardium, and blood in mediastinum and both pleural cavities. The CT angiographic finding of focal out-bulging in the ascending thoracic aorta was diagnosed as penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer. The patient underwent emergency operation under a preoperative diagnosis of penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer with a sign of aortic rupture. In the intraoperative findings, however, intimal tear was seen in the anterior portion of the ascending aorta about 1cm below the brachiocephalic trunk and falselumen appeared after hematoma was removed from the layer of tunica media. We report a case of type A aortic dissection which mimicked clinical and diagnostic features of penetrating atherosclerotic ulcer.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.685-692
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• 1991

Twelve patients underwent surgical interventions for aortic aneurysms consecutively from September 1986 to September 1990 in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Yeungnam University Hospital. They were all men ranging in age from 25 to 68 years with the mean age of 48 years. Five patients of them had aneurysms involving ascending aorta, one aneurysm involving both ascending and descending aorta, four aneurysms involving descending thoracic aorta, and the others had aneurysms involving abdominal aorta. According to morphological classification, six cases of them were in dissection and the others in fusiform aneurysms. All the cases were pathologically true aneurysms and four of them were in acute status. According to causal classification, seven patients of them had atherosclerosis, three cystic medial necrosis, and the others had syphilis and trauma respectively. Six patients with ascending aortic aneurysm had annuloaortic ectasia with aortic regurgitation and underwent ascending aortic graft and aortic valve replacement[Bentall`s operation]. The others with descending thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms underwent Dacron graft replacement. Both hemorrhage necessitating reopening of the chest and wound dehiscence were observed in three patients and hoarseness in one patient. Cerebrovascular accident occurred three and a quarter years postoperatively in one patient and he died two days later. The others were followed up via OPD and have been doing well postoperatively.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.264-272
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• 2016

Background: We analyzed the long-term results of ascending aortic replacement and arch aortic replacement in acute DeBakey type I aortic dissections to measure the differences in the distal aortic changes with extension of the aortic replacement. Methods: We reviewed 142 cases of acute DeBakey type I aortic dissections (1996-2015). Seventy percent of the cases were ascending aortic replacements, and 3 0% of the cases underwent total arch aortic replacement, which includes the aorta from the root to the beginning of the descending aorta with the 3 arch branches. Fourteen percent (20 cases) resulted in surgical mortality and 86% of cases that survived had a mean follow-up period of $6.6{\pm}4.6years$. Among these cases, 64% of the patients were followed up with computed tomography (CT) angiograms with the duration of the final CT check period of $4.9{\pm}2.9years$. Results: There were 15 cases of reoperation in 13 patients. Of these 15 cases, 13 cases were in the ascending aortic replacement group and 2 cases were in the total arch aortic replacement group. Late mortality occurred in 13 cases; 10 cases were in the ascending aortic replacement group and 3 cases were in the total arch aortic replacement group. Eight patients died of a distal aortic problem in the ascending aortic replacement group, and 1 patient died of distal aortic rupture in the total arch aortic replacement group. The follow-up CT angiogram showed that 69.8% of the ascending aortic replacement group and 35.7% of the total arch aortic replacement group developed distal aortic dilatation (p=0.0022). Conclusion: The total arch aortic replacement procedure developed fewer distal remnant aortic problems from dilatation than the ascending aortic replacement procedure in acute type I aortic dissections.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.255-261
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• 2023

Background: The surgical threshold for bicuspid aortic valve (BAV)-related aortopathy is a matter of debate due to its uncertain etiology and prognosis. This study investigated the prognosis of unrepaired BAV aortopathy in patients undergoing surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 720 patients (age, 60.8±11.5 years; 246 women) who underwent SAVR for BAV disease without aortic repair between 2005 and 2020 at Asan Medical Center. The clinical endpoints were defined as occurrences of sudden death, aortic dissection or rupture, and elective aortic repair. To estimate postoperative changes in the dimensions of the unrepaired aorta, the individual annual aortic expansion rate was calculated. Multiple linear regression models were used to evaluate the risk of aortic expansion. Results: The mean ascending aortic diameter was 39.5±4.6 mm, and 299 patients (41.5%) had a baseline ascending aorta diameter >40 mm. During 70.0±68.3 months of follow-up, the mean annual aortic expansion rate was 0.39±1.96 mm/yr, no aortic dissection or rupture was observed, and sudden deaths were reported in 12 patients (0.34% per person-year). Linear regression analysis revealed no significant correlation between the baseline ascending aortic diameter and postoperative aortic expansion (R²=0.004, β=-0.84, p=0.082). Conclusion: In selected patients undergoing SAVR for a BAV (<55 mm), the risk of adverse aortic events was very low. As this observation contradicts current practice guidelines advocating for proactive aortic replacement in dilated ascending aortas measuring >45 mm, the study results need further validation by studies involving larger populations or randomized controlled trials.

• 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.35 no.8
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• pp.599-604
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• 2002

Acute or chronic aortic dissection may lead to the rupture, which is the major cause of death. A dissecting aneurysm of ascending aorta(Stanford type A dissection) can rupture into the superior vena cava producing a aortocaval fistula, which is rare, but has been reported mostly in the cases of abdominal aortic aneurysm. We report a case of 67-year-old man with type A chronic dissection and aortocaval fistula, presenting symptoms of superior vena syndrome. The preoperative diagnosis was composed of radiologic examinations, including computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging angiography and aortography. The dissecting aneurysm was resected and replaced, and the aortocaval fistula was repaired under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. The details are described here.