• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.368-372
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• 1999

Background: Although there have been few reports about minimal skin incision for the repair of congenital heart lesions, minimizing an unsightly scar is a particularly important factor in growing children. We have adopted a technique that permits standard full sternotomy, conventional open chest cardiopulmonary bypass, aortic cross-clamping, left atrial vent, and antegrade cardioplegia with minimal surgical scar. Material and Method: With minimal skin incision and full sternotomy, 40 patients with congenital heart disease underwent open heart surgery from April 1997 through September 1997. Defects repaired included 30 ventricular septal defects, 4 atrial septal defects, and 1 sinus Valsalva aneurysm in 35 children(M:F=17: 18), and 3 Atrial septal defects, 1 ventricular septal defect, and 1 partial atrioventricular septal defect in 5 adults(M:F=1:4). Midline skin incision was performed from the second intercostal space to 1 or 2 cm above the xiphoid process. For full sternotomy, we used the ordinary sternal saw in sternal body, and a special saw in manubrium under the skin flap. During sternal retraction, surgical field was obtained by using two retractors in a crossed direction. Result: The proportion of the skin incision length to the sternal length was 63.1${\pm}$3.9%(5.2∼11cm, mean 7.3cm) in children, and 55.0${\pm}$3.5%(10∼13.5cm, mean 12cm) in adults. In every case, the aortic and venous cannulations could be done through the sternal incision without additional femoral cannulation. There was no hospital death, wound infection, skin necrosis, hematoma formation, or bleeding complication. Conclusion: We conclude that minimal skin incision with full sternotomy can be a safe and effective alternative method for the repair of congenital heart diseases in children and adults.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.369-374
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• 2002

Background: Proper construction of vascular access and adequate maintenance are essential for the prognosis of the hemodialysis patients. Though arteriovenous fistula using autogenous vessel is the first of choice, the incidence of arteriovenous fistula using artificial graft is gradually increasing. The aim of this study was to analyse the patency rates between autogenous and artificial fistula, among artificial graft types, according to the accompanied disease. Material and Method: A retrospective study was conducted on 186 patients who underwent 292 arteriovenous fistula operations for hemodialysis at Korea University Guro Hospital between 1996 and 2000. Mean age of the patients was 54.37 $\pm$ 12.79years, and the male: female ratio 99:87. Result: Among 292 operations, there were 156 autogenous fistula and 116 graft fistula. The other 20 operations were thrombectomy, takedown of graft, revision, and balloon dilatation. Patency rates of autogenous fistula were 92.78 $\pm$ 2.35% at 1 year and 39.03$\pm$9.08% at 5 years, and those of graft fistula were 96.09 $\pm$ 2.22% at 1 year and 16.45 $\pm$ 10.15% at 5 scars. However, there was no statistical significance between the two operations. The patients who had hypertension, diabetes or both had no statistical significance in the patency rate compared to that of patients without underlying disease. In addition, the type of graft used did not affect the patency rate. Second operation was needed in 62 patients and third operation in 31 patients, but their patency rate again had no statistical significance compared to that of the first operation. Conclusion: The patency of the artificial graft fistula was comparable to the autogenous fistula, but the patency according to types of graft need to be studied further. Furthermore, the underlying diseases did not affect the fistula patency.