• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.591-597
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• 1998

Background: The aim of the current study was to analyze the early and intermediate-term performance of aortic valve replacement. Material and Method: Between January 1986 and January 1996, records of 61 consecutive patients who had received aortic valve replacement were reviewed. 38 were male and 23 were female patients, ranging from 10 to 71 years of age(mean: 40.5${\pm}$11.2). Results: The early death rate was 4.9%(3/61). A thorough follow-up rate of 93.1% was accomplished in these 58 patients who left the hospital(mean: 51.5${\pm}$32.0 patient-months) under the assistance of the same operator. Three of these patients who left the hospital died. The late death rate was 5.2%(3/58). Five patients experienced anticoagulant-related hemorrhage(all were minor). Three patients had thromboembolic episodes. There was no clinical evidence of hemolysis and structural failure of valves used. Of those patients who survived, the NYHA functional class improved significantly. Linearized rate were 1.58%/patient-year and 2.0%/patient-year respectively for thromboembolism and anticoagulant-related hemorrhage. The 10 year actuarial survival rate was 83.6%. Conclusion: This early and intermediate-term follow-up suggests that the mechanical valve is a reliable and durable prosthesis with good hemodynamic function and low rate of prosthesis-related complication.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.552-559
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• 2000

Background; The aim of this study is to evaluate our clinical experience with the Carbomedics heart valve prosthesis. Material and Method; Between Aug. 1988 and Dec. 1998, 294 Carbomidics valves were implanted in 235 patients(mitral; 143, mitral and aortic; 59, aortic; 33) The mean age at operation is 40.0$\pm$12.3 years(range 7 to 68 years); 63.8% (150patients) were woman. Follow up was 97.4% complete and mean follow up time was 5.7years with a total of 1209.2 patient-years. Result; The hospital mortality was 8.9%(mitral; was 95.2$\pm$1.6%(mitral ; 94.9$\pm$2.1%, mitral and aortic 95.0$\pm$3.7%, aortic 96.2$\pm$3.8%). Actual freedom rates from complications(linearized rates in parentheses) were fllowings; thromboembolism 96.2$\pm$1.5%(0.59%pt-yr), valve thrombosis 96.7$\pm$1.4%(0.5%/pt/yr), anticoagulant related hemorrhage 98.3$\pm$1.0%(0.25%/pt-yr), perivalvular leak 99.0$\pm$1.4%(0.5%/pt-yr), endocarditis 98.7$\pm$1.0%(0.25%/pt-yr), perivalvular leak 99.0$\pm$0.7%(0.17%pt-yr), endocarditis 98.7$\pm$1.0%(0.17%$\pm$pt-yr) and overall valve-related complications 88.9$\pm$2.5%(1.68%/pt-yr). Conclusion; The clinical performance of the Carbomedics valve was quite satisfactory with a low incidence of valve related mortality and morbidity.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.262-269
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• 1999

Background: To review the middle and long term results of aortic valve replacement(AVR) for 11 years, we surveyed and followed up the patients who underwent AVR. Material and Method: Between Feb. 1986 and May 1997, 134 patients underwent AVR. The patients consisted of 71 men and 63 women whose mean age was 38.9 years, ranging from 17 to 70. Result: The concomitant operations were 62 mitral valve replacement(MVR), 14 MVR + tricuspid valve annuloplasty, 10 Cabrol operation, 16 aortic annulus widening, and so forth. We used 119 mechanical(75 St. Jude Medical, 38 CarboMedics, 6 Sorin) and 15 tissue (Carpentier-Edwards) valves. Early postoperative complications occurred in 35 cases; 9 congestive heart failure, 6 low cardiac output, 5 postoperative bleeding, 5 pleural effusion, and so forth. There were 13 early postoperative deaths(9.7%) due to low cardiac output(5), CHF (2), disseminated intravascular coagulopathy(2), and so forth. The cumulative total follow-up period was 452.7 patient-years with a mean of 3.4${\pm}$3.1 years/patient. There were 9 cases of valve-related complications; anticoagulant-related bleeding(4), prosthetic valve endocarditis(2), thromboembolism(2) and prosthetic valve failure(1) occured at rate of 0.9, 0.4, 0.4, 0.2%/ pt-yr, respectively. Late valve-related death occurred in 3 cases(2.0%/pt-yr) associated with anticoagulant-related bleeding(2) and prosthetic valve endocarditis(1). Conclusion: Actuarial survival rate by Kaplan-Meier method was 91.0${\pm}$4.3 % at 11 years.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.9
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• pp.977-982
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• 1996

Cardiac valve implantation was performed in 107 patients from September, 1988 to May, 1995. There were 3) men and 74 women, whose ages ranged from 19 to 75 years(mean 42.6$\pm$11.7). Mitral valve was implanted in 61 patients, double(mitral & aortic) valve were Implanted in 28 patients and aortic valve was implanted in 18 patients. Follow up was 100% complete, with 345.6 patient-years and a mean fo low up of 41 months(from 1.5 to 84 months). The total mortality was 14.9%(16 patients). The early mortality was 5.6%(6 patients) and the late mortality was 9.3%(10 patients). The overall actuarial survival was 92.6 $\pm$ 2 6% at 2 years, 88.6$\pm$3.8% at 6 years. The probability of freedom from valve failure, thromboembolism and bacterial endocarditis were 388.6 $\pm$ 3.8, 88.3 $\pm$3.9, 89.5 $\pm$3.7 at 6 years, respectively.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.83-91
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• 1986

The Carpentier-Edwards porcine xenograft valve was used in 21 patients at Seoul National University Hospital during the period between 1977 and 1979. Twenty-four Carpentier-Edwards valves were implanted along with 2 others. Three patients died within 30 days of operation, an operative mortality rate of 14.3%. Eighteen early survivors were followed up for a total 67.5 patient-years [mean, 45.0$\pm$32.0 months]. There were 2 late deaths with a linealized late mortality rate of 2.96%/patient-year; one died from cerebral bleeding [1.48% bleeding/patient-year] and the other from prosthetic valve endocarditis [1, 48% endocarditis/patient-year]. There was no case of thromboembolism. Two patients developed mitral regurgitation [2.96% failure/patient-year]. Symptomatic improvement was excellent. The actuarial survival rate and the probability of freedom from overall valve failure were 75.3$\pm$9.6% and 80.7$\pm$12.9% at 9 years after surgery respectively. During the period from October, 1968, through June, 1985, 1, 190 substitute heart valves were used in a total of 967 patients at Seoul National University Hospital; of which, 90.9% were either porcine aortic or bovine pericardial xenograft valves. For the evaluation of the xenograft tissue valves, the consecutive patients with lonescu-Shiley valve in the mitral, aortic and both positions, Angell-Shiley valve and Carpentier-Edwards valve were recently studied on the clinical ground. They were 531 patients, and 643 xenograft valves were used. The operative mortality rate was 6.97% and a linealized late mortality rate 2.94%/patient-year. A total of 490 early survivors were followed up for 917.6 patient-years [mean, 22.5 months], and 70% of patients completed the follow-up. The linealized incidences of complications were: 2.29% emboli/patient-year, 1.98% bleeding/patient-year, 1.20% endocarditis/patient-year, and 3.49% failure/patient-year. These clinical resutls are fully comparable with those in the major reports. The durability of the glutaraldehydepreserved xenograft heart valves remains as a great concern and a continuing debate, expecially for the group of patients in the pediatric age. The need of more durable material for the improved tissue valves was also discussed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1346-1353
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• 1992

From Febrary 1984 to July 1992, 138 cases of multiple valve replacements were performed at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Dongsan Medical Center, Keimyung University. There were 81 females and 57 males, and their ages ranged from 19 to 60 years [mean age, 40.1$\pm$10.9 years]. Thirteen of these patients had undergone previous cardiovascular procedures, with an average of 76.3 months between procedures[range, 3 to 180 months]. Mitral and aortic valve replacement were done in 135 patients, 2 underwent triple valve replacement and 1 underwent mitral and tricuspid valve replacement. Associated procedures were necessary in 20 patients[14.5%]. The operative mortality was 5.8% and the most common cause was low cardiac output. Late follow-up of 83% has been accomplished in 130 early survivors, with a late mortality of 5.9%. The late mortality was due to valve thrombosis in 2 patients, cerebral infarction in 1, heart failure in 1, arrhythmia in 1, and bleeding in l. Of those patients who survived, New York Heart Association functional class improved significantly[from 70% class III and IV before to 88% class I and II after]. Actuarial survival rate including all deaths was 88.8% at 8 years. The follow-up studies revealed that thromboembolism, reoperation and bleeding rate were 1.2%/patient-year, 0.85% /patient-year and 0.57%/patient-year at 8 years postoperatively. We concluded that valve thrombosis, embolism, and anticoagulant-related hemorrhage were the main risk factors of longterm survival of patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.137-148
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• 1992

Until March 1991, 435 St. Jude Medical valves and 330 CarboMedics valves were implanted in 358 and 251 patients, respectively. 300 patients were male and 309 were female with the mean age of 35.6 years[from 2 month to 68 years]. 458 valves were implanted in the mitral, 272 in the aortic, 25 in the tricuspid, and 10 in the pulmonic position. Postoperatively, all patients except for very young patients were given coumadin with or without dipyridamole for anticogulation Operative mortality was 7.3%[45 deaths per 618 operations]. A total follow-up of 1244.8 patient-years was achieved for the operative survivors with a follow-up rate of 96.8%, [mean follow-up period=26.3 months /patient, ranging from 1 to 80 months]. Functional improvement was evident; 66.7% of these patients were in NYHA functional class III or IV preopratively, whereas 98.4% are in class I or II pos-toperatively. There occurred 13 late deaths[7 valve-related] and 55 valve-related complications. Linearized rates of late death and valve-related complications were 1.0%/ patient-year, 4.42%/patient-year, respectively. Rates of thromboembolism, anticoagluation-related hemorrhage were 1.12%/patient-year, 1.69% /patient-year, respectively. Actuarial survival at 5 years is 96.0% and complication-free survival at 5 years is 83.9%. No difference in survival and incidence of complications was found between the St. Jude and CarboMedics valves. On the basis of this experience, we believe that the pyrolytic carbon bileaflet mechanical valves are safe and preferable choice among current valve prostheses.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.38 no.3 s.248
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• pp.197-203
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• 2005

Homograft aortic valve replacement (AVR) has many advantages such as excellent hemodynamic performance, faster left ventricular hypertrophy regression, resistance to infection and excellent freedom of thromboembolism. To find out the results of homograft AVR, we reviewed our surgical experiences. Material and Method: Eighteen patients (male female=16 : 2, mean age=39.3$\pm$16.2 years, range: 14$\~$68 years) who underwent homo-graft aortic valve replacement between May 1995 and May 2004 were reviewed. The number of homografts was 20 (17 aortic and 3 pulmonic homografts) including two re-operations. Ten patients had a history of previous aortic valve surgery. Indications for the use of a homograft were native valve endocarditis (n=7), prosthetic valve endocarditis (n=5), or Behcet's disease (n=8). The homograft had been implanted predominantly as a full root except in one patient in the subcoronary position. Result: Mean follow-up was 41.3 $\pm$ 26.2 months. There was one operative mortality. Postoperative complications included postoperative bleeding in 3 patients, and wound infection in 1. There was no late death. Three patients underwent redo-AVR. The etiology of the three reoperated patients was Behcet's disease (p=0.025). Freedom from reoperation was $87.5\pm8.3\%$, $78.8\pm11.2\%$ at 1, 5 years respectively, In patients with infective endocarditis, there was no recurrence of endocarditis. There was no thromboembolic complication. Conclusion: Although longer term follow-up with larger numbers of patients is necessary, the operative and mid-term results for homograft AVR was good when we took into account the operative risks of Behcet's disease or infective endocarditis. Behest's disease was a risk factor for reoperation after the homograft AVR. We think homograft AVR is the procedure of choice, particularly in patients with infective endocarditis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.329-336
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• 2016

Background: Guidelines for esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in the West allow the continued use of warfarin under therapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) level. In Korea, no guidelines have been issued regarding warfarin treatment before EGD. The authors surveyed Korean cardiac surgeons about how Korean cardiac surgeons handle warfarin therapy before EGD using a questionnaire. Participants were requested to make decisions regarding the continuation of warfarin therapy in two hypothetical cases. Methods: The questionnaire was administered to cardiac surgeons and consisted of eight questions, including two case scenarios. Results: Thirty- six cardiac surgeons at 28 hospitals participated in the survey, and 52.7% of the participants chose to stop warfarin before EGD in aortic valve replacement patients without risk factors for thromboembolism. When the patient's INR level was 2, 31% of the participants indicated that they would choose to continue warfarin therapy. For EGD with biopsy, 72.2% of the participants chose warfarin withdrawal, and 25% of the participants chose heparin replacement. In mitral valve replacement patients, 47.2% of the participants chose to discontinue warfarin, and 22.2% of the participants chose heparin replacement. For EGD with biopsy in patients with a mitral valve replacement, 58.3% of the participants chose to stop warfarin, and 41.7% of the participants chose heparin replacement. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that attitudes regarding warfarin treatment for EGD are very different among Korean surgeons. Guidelines specific to the Korean population are required.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.11
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• pp.1031-1036
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• 1998

Background: Medtronic-Hall mechanical valve is a world widely using prosthesis. But, in Korea, the clinical result from Medtronic-Hall valve replacement is not frequenthy available. Materials and methods: From March 1986 to May 1990, 50 patients underwent valve replacement surgery with Medtronic-Hall valve at Pusan National University Hospital. Seventeen were male and thirty three were female and ra nging in age from 16 to 70 years of age(mean=35 years). Results: The causes of valvular lesion were rheumatic in 43 patients, bicuspid aortic valve in 3 patients, degenerative lesion in three patients and bacterial endocarditis in one patient. The operative procedures were mitral valve replacement(MVR) in 38, aortic valve replacement(AVR) in 5 and double valve replacement(DVR) in 7. The most commonly used valve size was 21mm in AVR, 29mm in MVR. Concomitant surgical procedures were performed in 15 patients; left atrial thrombectomy in 9, left atrial auricle obliteration in 6 and tricuspid annuloplasty in 5(Kay: 2, DeVega: 3). New York Heart Association functional class was mostly Class Ⅲ or Ⅳ(91.5%) preoperatively and ClassⅠor Ⅱ(87.2%) after operation. The findings of postoperative echocardiogram of LAD, LVESD, LVEDD were reduced compared with preoperative period and ejection fraction was increased compared with preoperative period. Postoperative complications were massive bleeding in three, low cardiac output syndrome in two, thromboembolism in one and fulminant hepatitis in one patient. There were three hospital deaths and their causes were low cardiac output syndrome in two and rupture of left ventricle in one patient. The 5 year survival rate was 93.65±0.71% and 10 year actuarial survival rate was 88.27±6.42%. Conclusions: Medtronic-Hall mechanical valve has low valve related complication rate. It's durability and hemodynamic performance is comparable to other mechanical valves.