• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.581-586
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• 1994

From February 1985 to February 1993, 18 operations were performed in 17 patients for treatment of aneurysmal disease [n=12] and/or dissection of the ascending aorta [n=6]. The ages ranged from 26 to 69 years [mean 44.3 $\pm$ 11.0 years].The proposed operations include composite graft replacement of aortic valve and ascending aorta with coronary reimplantation in 11, graft replacement of ascending aorta alone in 5, aortic valve replacement and supracoronary graft replacement in 1 and ascending aorta to abdominal aorta bypass with thromboexclusion of descending aorta in one patient. Both Bentall [n=6] and Cabrol [n=5] technique were utilized for reimplantation of coronary arteries.Concomitant replacement of aortic arch and arch vessel reconstruction was necessary in two patients. Hypothermic circulatory arrest was utilized in 6 patients. Recently, four patients were managed on warm blood continuous cardioplegia via retrograde route. There were no operative deaths. No significant postoperative complications were noted. Postoperative follow up was complete in 15 patients from 1 month to 72 months. Redo operation was necessary in one patient who had suffered from distal recurrence of dissection 5 years after successful Bentall operation. The other patients are all in excellent clinical condition. From our early experience with those 17 cases, we assume that satisfactory operative result could be achieved with a variety of surgical technique including hypothermic circulatory arrest. In addition, continuous perfusion of warm blood cardioplegia via retrograde route is supposed to be beneficial in selected cases.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.134-139
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• 1986

Seventeen patients underwent operations for aneurysm of ascending aorta with aortic regurgitation from August 1979 to October 1985. 10 patients underwent complete replacement of the ascending aorta and the aortic valve with a composite graft and implantation of coronary ostia on the graft. Seven patients underwent supracoronary noncomposite graft replacement and aortic valve replacement. The patients ranged in age from 25 to 55 years [mean 37.6 years]. There were 11 male and 6 female patients. All patients had aortic incompetence and aneurysmal dilatation of the ascending aorta. Seven of the patients has concomitant aortic dissection in ascending aorta and one had dissection in abdominal aorta. Eight patients had signs of Marfan syndrome and the other 3 patients had cystic degeneration in the medial layer of the aorta. There was one hospital death[5.8%]. He died of sepsis on the 23rd postoperative day. All survivors showed improvement in NYHA functional classification in the 34.9 patient-year follow-up period.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.68-71
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• 2013

A 67-year-old female patient was treated with conventional total arch replacement and insertion of a stented elephant trunk (SET) graft into the descending thoracic aorta for acute DeBakey type I aortic dissection at one time. She had been treated with right coronary artery stent insertion for acute myocardial infarct 4 days earlier, and at that time, she was diagnosed with acute DeBakey type I aortic dissection from the ascending aorta to the suprarenal artery based on trans-esophageal echocardiography and aorta computed tomography. Through a median sternotomy, we inserted the SET graft through the opened aorta to the descending aorta. We also performed anastomosis between the proximal stented graft and the distal aortic arch, and then performed total arch replacement. For acute DeBakey type I aortic dissection, we report total arch replacement with insertion of a SET graft as a combination of conventional surgery and the interventional technique.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.215-219
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• 2011

Background: Selective antegrade perfusion via axillary artery cannulation along with circulatory arrest under deep hypothermia has became a recent trend for performing surgery on the ascending aorta and aortic arch and when direct aortic cannulation is not feasible. The authors of this study tried using moderate hypothermia with right brachial and femoral artery perfusion to complement the pitfalls of single axillary artery cannulation and deep hypothermia. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 36 patients who received ascending aorta or aortic arch replacement between July 2005 and May 2010. The adverse outcomes included operative mortality, permanent neurologic dysfunction and temporary neurologic dysfunction. Results: Of these 36 patients, 32 (88%) were treated as emergencies. The mean age of the patients was 61.9 years (ranging from 29 to 79 years) and there were 19 males and 17 females. The principal diagnoses for the operation were acute type A aortic dissection (31, 86%) and aneurysmal disease without aortic dissection (5, 14%). The performed operations were ascending aorta replacement (9, 25%), ascending aorta and hemiarch replacement (13, 36%), ascending aorta and total arch replacement (13, 36%) and total arch replacement only (1, 3%). The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was $209.4{\pm}85.1$ minutes, and the circulatory arrest with selective antegrade perfusion time was $36.1{\pm}24.2$ minutes. The lowest core temperature was $24{\pm}2.1^{\circ}C$. There were five deaths within 30 post-op days (mortality: 13.8%). Two patients (5.5%) had minor neurologic dysfunction and six patients, including three patients who had preoperative cerebral infarction or unconsciousness, had major neurologic dysfunction (16.6%). Conclusion: When direct aortic cannulation is not feasible for ascending aorta and aortic arch replacement, the right brachial and femoral artery can be used as arterial perfusion routes with the patient under moderate hypothermia. This technique resulted in acceptable outcomes.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.865-869
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• 2001

Operations for extensive aortic aneurysm are generally performed as staged operations with or without elephant trunk technique. However, we must consider single stage replacement in cases that are unsuitable for elephant trunk technique. We report a case of successful sing1e stage replacement of the entire thoracic aorta from the aortic valve to the level of diaphragm. The patient was a 35-year-old male who had Marfanoid features and had previously undergone replacement of the ascending aorta for aortic dissection. He recovered without neurologic complication and was discharged on 29th day after the operation. .

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.24-28
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• 2018

Ascending aortic injury after blunt chest trauma is an emergency condition that requires urgent diagnosis and treatment. The authors report the case of a patient with traumatic ascending aortic injury who received ascending aorta replacement under cardiopulmonary bypass after failure of primary repair.

• 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.49 no.1
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• pp.54-58
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• 2016

A 49-year-old male presented with chills and a fever. Five years previously, he underwent ascending aorta and aortic arch replacement using the elephant trunk technique for DeBakey type 1 aortic dissection. The preoperative evaluation found an esophago-paraprosthetic fistula between the prosthetic graft and the esophagus. Multiple-stage surgery was performed with appropriate antibiotic and antifungal management. First, we performed esophageal exclusion and drainage of the perigraft abscess. Second, we removed the previous graft, debrided the abscess, and performed an in situ re-replacement of the ascending aorta, aortic arch, and proximal descending thoracic aorta, with separate replacement of the innominate artery, left common carotid artery, and extra-anatomical bypass of the left subclavian artery. Finally, staged esophageal reconstruction was performed via transthoracic anastomosis. The patient's postoperative course was unremarkable and the patient has done well without dietary problems or recurrent infections over one and a half years of follow-up.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.457-462
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• 1993

We retrospectively studied 34 patients who underwent operations of ascending aortic aneurysm and aortic valve replacement from August 1979 to July 1992 at the Yonsei Cardiovascular Center. Eight patients underwent supracoroanry non-composite graft replacement and separate aortic valve replacement[group I]. Twenty six patients underwent valved composite graft replacement with reimplantation of coronary arteries[group II]. Two cases in group II died within 1 month after the operation. Among the 32 survivors 28 patients have been followed up for an average of 59 months ranging from 1 months to 159 months. During the follow up periods, a pseudoaneurysm around the ascending aorta and a newly developed dissecting aneurysm in remaining aorta were noted in group II. There were 6 late deaths: 2 cases in group I and 4 cases in group II. Three cases among the 6 late deaths have stigmata of Marfan`s syndrome[1 cases in group I and 2 case in group II]. There was no statistically significant difference in actuarial survival rates between group I and group II[p > 0.05]. This study suggests that non-composite supracoronary graft interposition with separate aortic valve replacement is a safe surgical technique in patients who have normal aortic annulus and normal position of coronary ostia. However in degenerative disease such as cystic medial necrosis, composite graft replacement is recommended because this procedure eliminates entire abnormal tissue.But it seems to be important that the suture technique and strict follow-up in patients with diseased aortic wall.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.24-29
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• 2012

Background: The conventional method of aortic cross-clamping is very difficult and increases the risk of cerebral infarct due to embolism of the calcified aorta in these patients. Accordingly, we analyzed our experience with 11 cases of ascending aorta and aortic valve replacement with hypothermic circulatory arrest. Materials and Methods: From January 2002 to December 2009, 11 patients had ascending aorta and aortic valve replacement with hypothermic arrest at our hospital. We performed a retrospective study. Results: There were 5 males and 6 females, with a mean age of 68 years (range, 44 to 82 years). Eight patients had aortic stenosis, and 3 patients had aortic regurgitation. An aortic cannula was inserted into the right axillary artery in 3 patients and ascending aorta in 6 patients. Two patients with aortic regurgitation had a remote access perfusion catheter inserted though the right femoral artery. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was 180 minutes (range, 110 to 306 minutes) and mean hypothermic circulatory arrest time was 30 minutes (range, 20 to 48 minutes). The mean rectal temperature during hypothermic circulatory arrest was $21^{\circ}C$ (range, $19^{\circ}C$ to $23^{\circ}C$). No patient had any new onset of cerebral infarct or cardiovascular accident after surgery. There was no hospital mortality. Early complications occurred in 1 patient who needed reoperation due to postoperative bleeding. Late complications occurred in 1 patient who underwent a Bentall operation due to prosthetic valve endocarditis. The mean follow-up duration was 32 months (range, 1 month to 8 years) and 1 patient died suddenly due to unknown causes after 5 years. Conclusion: Patients with a calcified aorta can be safely treated with a technique based on aorta and aortic valve replacement under hypothermic circulatory arrest.