• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.356-360
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• 2021

Treating cardiac injuries following blunt trauma to the chest requires thorough examination, accurate diagnosis, and therapeutic plan. We present two cases; pulmonary vein rupture and left atrial appendage laceration, both as a result of blunt chest trauma. Through these cases, our team learned the importance of maintaining hemodynamic stability during the examination of injured cardiac structures. And based on the comprehensive cardiac examination, a decision to surgically intervene with median sternotomy via cardiopulmonary bypass was made, saving lives of the patient. This report introduces how such decision was made based on what supporting evidence and the diagnostic process leading to the initiation of surgical intervention. This report may help with decision-making process when confronted by blunt cardiac injury patients who need cardiac exploration.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.10
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• pp.719-721
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• 2007

Patients with congenital pericardial defect display few symptoms and this is an unusual disease, so it is generally found incidentally in most of the cases. In some cases, symptoms such as chest pain are found due to partial cardiac herniation. We report here on a 14-year-old girl with dyspnea and chest pain that started during physical activity 3 months before the hospital visit. She was diagnosed with herniation of the left atrial appendage with a partial pericardium defect and she was treated with an operation.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.113-116
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• 2014

A 52-year-old man was referred to our hospital due to fever and myalgia that occurred 2 weeks earlier. He showed a complete atrioventricular block on his electrocardiogram, and his vital signs were unstable. On his transthoracic echocardiograph, the 1.5 cm vegetation in the aortic valve with severe aortic regurgitation suggested infective endocarditis. His transesophageal enchocardiograph showed abscess in his mitral-aortic intervalvular fibrosa and vegetation was suspected on his anterior mitral valve leaflet. The patient underwent an emergent operation for valve replacement with temporary epicardial pacing. Intraoperatively, the septal leaflet of his tricuspid valve was injured during the debridement of the abscess pocket that was extended to the membranous septum. The aortic, mitral, and tricuspid mechanical valves were replaced with annular reconstruction without complications. After 14 days of intravenous antibiotics, we successfully changed the epicardial pacemaker into a transvenous DDD-type permanent pacemaker by placing a left ventricular lead via the coronary sinus and an atrial lead in the right atrium appendage. The patient was discharged in a tolerable state and was examined uneventfully in our hospital's outpatient clinic for 8 months.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.672-679
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• 2001

Background: Surgical correction of partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection to the superior vena cava has been associated with postoperative venous obstruction and sinus node dysfunction. In this paper we describe our current approach and its short-term results. Material and Method: Between April 1999 and January 2000, 5 consecutive patients, ranging from 2 months to 66 years old, underwent corrective operation for partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection to the superior vena cava at Sejong General Hospital and Daegu Catholic University Medical Center. Surgical correction involved diversion of the pulmonary venous drainage to the left atrium using a right atrial flap(2 patients) or prosthetic patch(3 patients) with division of the superior vena cava superior to the restore site of the pulmonary veins and reimplantation on the right atrial appendage to restore systemic venous drainage. Result: All patients were discharged between postoperative day 9 and 15 without complications. One Russian boy returned to his country, therefore, he was lost to follow-up after discharge. Remaining 4 patients were asymptomatic and in normal regular sinus rhythm at a mean follow-up of 17.75$\pm$4.27 months. Follow-up echocardiographic study (range, 12 to 24 months) revealed no incidence of narrowing of the venous pathways or of residual shunt. Conclusion: Our current approach is relatively simple and reproducible in achieving unobstructive pulmonay venous and SVC pathways. By avoiding incision across the cavoatrial junction, surgical injury to the sinus node and its artery may be minimized. The presented surgical technique can be safely and effectively applied to the selected patients.