• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.195-202
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• 2010

Purpose : Despite recent advances in pulmonary hypertension management and surgery, appropriate guidelines remain to be developed for operability in congenital heart disease with pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). Our aim was to evaluate clinical outcomes of patients with severe PAH who underwent surgical closure of left-to-right shunt lesions (LRSL) on the basis of pulmonary reactivity. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed 21 patients who underwent surgical closure of LRSL with severe PAH (${\geq}8$ Wood unit) from January 1995 to April 2009. The median age at operation was 26 years. Atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect (VSD), VSD and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), and PDA was present in 11, 4, 4, and 2 patients, respectively. Results : Operability was based on vasoreactivity of PAH. Of the 21 patients, 5 showed response to pulmonary vasodilator therapy and 8 showed vasoreactivity after balloon occlusion of defects. The remaining 8 patients were considered operable because of significant left-to-right shunt (Qp/Qs ${\geq}1.5$). Five patients underwent total closure of defects and 16 were left with small residual shunts. The median follow-up duration was 32 months. There was no significant postoperative mortality or morbidity. Systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) decreased in all but 2 patients. All patients except 1 showed improvement of New York Heart Association functional class. Conclusion : Closure of LRSL in patients with severe PAH on the basis of pulmonary vasoreactivity seems reasonable. PAP and clinical symptoms improved in most patients. Further research is needed for the evaluation of long-term results.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.35-42
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• 2011

목적 : Elastin 섬유는 피부, 폐, 동맥, 정맥 등 조직에서 발견된다. Elastin 섬유의 손실은 대동맥, 동맥, 세동맥의 탄력 등과 연관되어 폐기종, 혈액순환 부전 및 폐동맥 고혈압을 악화시킬 수 있다. 본 연구는 당귀약침액의 elastase 효소활성에 대한 효과와 항산화 효과에 대하여 연구하고자 계획되었다. 방법 : 당귀약침액의 elastase 억제효과와 DPPH, 및 NO 소거능을 측정하여 항산화 효과를 측정하였다. 결과 : 당귀약침액에서 통계적으로 유의한 elastase 활성 억제효과를 관찰할 수 있었다. 또한 통계적으로 강한 DPPH free radical 소거 효과가 관찰되었다. 그리고 NO 소거효과를 관찰할 수 있었으며, 그 효능은 pH 6.0에서 가장 강한 효능을 보였다. 결론 : 본 연구 결과에 의하면, 당귀약침액에는 유효한 elastase 활성 억제효과와 강한 항산화 효과가 있어, 폐기종 및 폐동맥 고혈압 치료에 유효한 작용이 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.9
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• pp.684-687
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• 2002

Besides lung transplantation, pulmonary thromboembolectomy is the only effective therapeutic option for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. It is however associated with a considerably high hospital mortality between 6.6 to 23%. Proper patient selection is critical when considering a patient for pulmonary thromboembolectomy. And It cannot be overemphasised that the key to the success of the operation is complete endarterectomy of the entire pulmonary arterial tree. We report that pulmonary thromboendarterectomy under total circulatory arrest was an effective and safe method in the surgical correction of the chronic thrornboernbolic pulmonary hypertension and enabled complete removal of superimposed peripheral organized thrombi in a good operative field.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.418-421
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• 2003

Heart-lung transplantation is a widely accepted treatment for Eisenmenger'syndrome. The patient is a 41-years-old male diagnosed with Eisenmenger'syndrome due to patent ductus arteriosus. The pressures were checked as follows: aorta 130/80 mean 100 mmHg, pulmonary artery 130/80 mean 109 mmHg, and right ventricle 130/20 mmHg, right atrium mean 20 mmHg. The patient needed heart-lung transplantation due to enlarged right pulmonary artery (diameter 7.5 cm). The donor was a 24 years-old male diagnosed as brain death due to subdural hematoma. Ligation of patent ductus arteriosus was performed under the cardiopulmonary bypass followed by heart-lung transplantation. Patient was extubated on postoperative day one, transferred to the general ward on day 3, and was discharged on postoperative day 33. Cardiac and lung biopsy was performed on postoperative day 41 with no signs of rejection.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1191-1196
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• 1996

Recently, if there is pulmonary hypertension in ventricular septal defect, early operation without pulmonary artery banding is recommended even though patient is under 1 year in age or has low body weight. We also had been performing operations under the above mentioned policy. From October 1986 to December 1995, eighty eight cases of ventricular septal defect under 10Kg in body weight were operated upon by open cardiac surgery. Mortality was compared by age, body weight and degree of pulmonary vascular hypertension. Total mortality was 10cases(11.4%); under 6months, the mortality was 5 in 14 cases(35.8%), from 6 months to 1year, 4 in 43 cases(9.3%) and over 1 year, one in 31 cases(3.2%), while there was no significant difference in mortality compared by degree of pulmonary vascular hypertension. And mortality under 6months in age was so high regardless of severity of pulmonary hypertension. After this exprience, too early operation,. especially under 6 months, should be considered very prudently, unless there were life threatning heart failure, impending irreversible pulmonary vascular bed change or failure to thrive.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.93-96
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• 2010

A 47-year-old male patient in whom atrial septal defect (ASD) had been diagnosed 15 years previously was admitted for cardiac catheterization. He had definite cyanotic lips and nail beds and severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). He had received medical treatment only for the last few years after being diagnosed with Eisenmenger syndrome. After cardiac catheterization, he received iloprost inhalation therapy pre and postoperation and was discharged after successful surgical closure of the ASD.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.67-76
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• 2004

Background : Pulmonary hypertension is a poor prognostic factor in patients with chronic respiratory disease. However, diagnosing pulmonary hypertension is a difficult procedure which often requires an invasive test. Thus new alternative biochemical markers would be useful in clinical field and are in search. We sought to assess the role of plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide(NT-proBNP) in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Method : We measured plasma NT-proBNP level in twenty nine patients suspected for pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension was defined as being right ventricular systolic pressure more than 35 mm Hg estimated by Doppler echocardiography. Plasma NT-proBNP level was measured by electrochemiluminescence sandwich immunoassay. Results : The log-transformed values for plasma NT-proBNP levels showed a linear correlation (correlation coefficiency: 0.783, p-value <0.001) with right ventricular systolic pressure. Plasma NT-proBNP levels closely correlated with right ventricular systolic pressure, right ventricular hypertrophy, interventricular septal flattening and right ventricular dilatation. Conclusion : Our results suggest that the measurement of plasma NT-proBNP level is an useful marker of the presence of pulmonary hypertension.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.5
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• pp.421-426
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• 2007

Portopulmonary hypertension (PPHTN) is a clinically and pathophysiologically distinct complication of advanced liver disease. PPHTN is characterized by the development of pulmonary arterial hypertension in association with advanced hepatic disease-related portal hypertension. A characteristic feature of PPHTN is an obstruction to the pulmonary artery flow caused by vasoconstriction, the proliferation of the endothelium and smooth muscle components of the vascular wall, as well as in situ thrombosis. This disorder is commonly underdiagnosed but the clinical implications are significant because it has substantial effects on survival and requires special treatment. We report a case of portopulmonary hypertension in a 53-year-old woman with primary biliary cirrhosis who presented with exertional dyspnea.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.269-275
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• 2023

Echocardiography is a non-invasive method that is useful for diagnosing pulmonary arterial hypertension. It is known that echocardiography depends on the experience, education, and knowledge level of the cardiac sonographer. This study aimed to compare the agreement values between cardiac sonographer with different practical experiences in the diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension using echocardiography. Three readers re-evaluated the echocardiography images of 148 patients who were diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension at the S Medical Center from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The echocardiography values measured by each reader were compared and analyzed. The results of the analysis of discrete variables revealed that the agreement values of the cardiac sonographers showed excellent consistency for both reader 3 and the cardiologist group, indicating that more experience leads to better predictive accuracy for diagnosis of the condition. Furthermore, in terms of continuous variables, all the cardiac sonographer demonstrated good agreement in the measured values of the right atrium, which was easier to assess and clearer than the structurally complex measurements of the right ventricle. This study represents the first analysis in Korea of the agreement values measured by medical technologists who are cardiac sonographers.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.8 s.265
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• pp.626-632
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• 2006

Background: Pulmonary hypertension caused by chronic pulmonary embolism is underrecognized and carries a poor prognosis. Medical therapy is generally unsatisfactory and palliative. With the improvement of operative technique and postoperative management, pulmonary endarterectomy has been the treatment of choice for this condition. Material and Method: Between January 2001 and December 2005, eleven patients were received pulmonary endarterectomy. All patients had chronic dyspnea and exercise intolerance. Diagnosis was made with cardiac echocardiography, lung perfusion scan and computed tomography. Before the operation, Greenfield vena cava filter were placed in all patient except one. Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest was used for the distal-most portion of the endarterectomy procedure. More than moderate degree of tricuspid reguirgitation was repaired during operation. Result: There was no early and late death. Right ventricular systolic pressure was reduced significantly after operation from $91{\pm}21$ mmHg to $40{\pm}17$ mmHg on echocardiography (p=0.001). NYHA class and tricuspid reguirgitaion were improved postoperatively. Although mild reperfusion injury in three case and postoperative delirium in one case were observed, all of them recovered without complication. Conclusion: Pulmonary thromboendarterctomy offers to patient an acceptable morbidity rate and anticipation of clinical improvement. This method is safe and effective operation for pulmonary hypertension caused by chronic pulmonary thromboembolism.