• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.4 s.261
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• pp.261-268
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• 2006

Background: Current vascular prostheses are still inadequate for reconstruction of small-diameter vessels. Autologous pericardium can be a good alternative for this purpose as it already possesses good blood compatibility and shows a mechanical behavior similar to that of natural arteries. However, the clinical use of autologous pericardial tissue as a small-diameter vascular graft has limitations due to mixed outcomes from uncertain biological behavior and difficulty to gain reliable patency results in animal experiments. To study this issue, we implanted fresh and glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardium as small-diameter arterial grafts in dogs, and compared their time-related changes histologically. Material and Method: As a form of 5mm-diameter arterial graft, one pair of autologous pericardial tissue was used for comparison between the glutaraldehyde-treated and the glutaraldehyde-untreated grafts in the bilateral carotid arteries in the same dog. The patency of the grafts were evaluated at regular intervals with Doppler ultrasonography. After the predetermined periods of 3 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months, the grafts in each animal were explanted. The retrieved grafts were processed for light and electron microscopic analyses following gross observation. Result: Of 7 animals, 2 were excluded from the study because one died postoperatively due to bleeding and the other was documented as one side of the grafts being obstructed. All 10 grafts in the remaining 5 dogs were patent. Grossly, a variable degree of thromboses were observed in the luminal surfaces of the grafts at 3 days and 2 weeks, despite good patency. Pseudointimal smooth blood-contacting surfaces were developed in the grafts at f month and later. By light microscopy, mesothelial cell layers of the pericardial tissue were absent in all explanted grafts. Newly formed endothelial cell layers on the blood-contacting surface were observed in both the glutaraldehyde-treated and fresh grafts at 3 months and later. The collagen fibers became degraded by fragmentation in the fresh graft at 1 month and In the glutaraldehyde-treated graft at 3 months. At 6 months, the collagen layers were no longer visible in either the glutaraldehyde-treated or fresh grafts. By electron microscopy, a greater amount of coarse fibrin fibers were observed in the fresh grafts than in the glutaraldehyde-treated grafts and, more compact and well-arrayed layers were observed in the glutaraldehyde-treated grafts than in the fresh grafts. Conclusion: The glutaraldehyde-treated small-diameter pericardial arterial grafts showed a better endothelialization of the blood-contacting surface and a slower fragmentation of the collagen layers than the fresh grafts, although it has yet to be proven whether these differences are so significant as to affect the patency results between the groups.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 1998

To develop the supplementary heart valve which could reduce the complications of prosthetic heart valve, in vitro experiments were performed to analyze the movement of the supplement valves from the view point of the flow dynamics and leaflet dynamics. The autologous pericardium was attached to deficient portion of the porcine valve which was dissected completely and partially. The pericardium was treated by buffered glutaraldehyde solution in the preshaped mould to preserve the shape of the leaflet. The function of the valves were evaluated in the mock circulatory system and three sets of experiment were performed. The instantaneous motion of the leaflet was pictured by the 35mm camera and the pressure drop through the valve and cardiac output were measured. The supplementary valve which was replaced completely performed better thatn the valve replaced partially. In vitro experiments showed that the supplementary valve which was replaced completely performed better than the valve replaced partially. In vitro experiments showed that the supplementary valve could undertake the prosthetic heart valve in clinic.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.766-771
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• 2003

It is known that low birth weight is a risk factor for poor outcome in cardiac surgery for many cardiac defects. Truncus arteriosus is a rare congenital anomaly that has an unfavorable natural course. We report a successful surgical correction of truncus arteriosus in an 13-day-old premature infant with body weight of 1.5 kg and gestational age of 32 weeks. We used autologous untreated pericardial conduit without valve in right ventricular outflow reconstruction. The patients remains in good condition with normal body weight (50 percentile) and wide right ventricular outflow tract 20 months after the operation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.247-252
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• 1995

The isolated coronary ostial stenosis is rare and a critical lesion which requires urgent surgical intervention. Recently direct angioplasty is assumed as a preferable approach to conventional bypass grafting. From Mar. 1990 to Aug. 1993, six patients underwent direct angioplasty in Sejong Heart Institute. The mean age of 6 patients was 48 years [range 37 to 63 and they consisted with 5 females and one male. All had severe angina [class III or IV of short duration [mean 5.3 months and a low incidence of risk factors. Despite the crucial location of the lesion, most patients had well preserved left ventricular function and normal wall motion. We performed direct angioplasty with autologous pericardium via anterior approach except one patient who underwent direct angioplasty and CABG. One patient died 4 hours after angioplasty probably due to acute coronary dissection. The survived 5 patients maintain normal life without symptoms during 26.2 months follow up [range 5 to 47 months .Our preliminary results suggest that angioplasty of isolated coronary ostial stenosis in highly selected patient can be carried out with good results and relatively low operative risks.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.760-764
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• 1987

Fifty seven patients underwent repair of a partial atrioventricular septal defect from January 1980 to December 1986. The ostium primum atrial septal defect was closed with autologous or bovine pericardium. The cleft in the anterior mitral leaflet was present in 53 cases, absent in 4 cases. Of the 53 cases with a cleft in the anterior mitral leaflet, 48 received suture repair of the cleft, 3 received mitral valve replacement. There was no hospital death and all the patients were followed-up for a mean period of 26.4 months. Four required permanent pacemaker implantation due to complete heart block, and one of them died of sudden malfunction of pacemaker. Two received reoperation due to significant residual mitral insufficiency. Suture repair of the cleft in the anterior mitral leaflet resulted in significant decrease in degree of mitral regurgitation. During follow-up period 49 patients were in NYHA class I, 7 patients were in NYHA class II. This report suggests that excellent result can be achieved from repair of the partial atrioventricular septal defect by managing the left A-V valve as a bileaflet structure.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.202-204
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• 2018

We report a case of high-output chylothorax associated with thrombo-occlusion of the superior vena cava (SVC) and left innominate vein (LIV) following an arterial switch operation in a neonate. The chylothorax was resolved by 3 weeks after surgical reconstruction of the SVC and LIV using fresh autologous pericardium. We confirmed the patency of the SVC and LIV with a 1-year follow-up computed tomographic scan at our outpatient clinic.

• Proceedings of the KOSOMBE Conference
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• v.1997 no.11
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• pp.329-332
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• 1997

To develop the supplementary heart valve which could reduce the complications of prosthetic heart valve, in vitro experiments were performed to analyze the movement of the supplementary valves. The autologous pericardium was attached to deficient portion of the porcine valve which was dissected completely and partially. The instantaneous motion of the leaflet was pictured by the 35mm camera and the pressure drop through the valve and cardiac output were measured in mock circulatory system. The durability of the valves were tested in severe hemodynamic conditions.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.559-563
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• 1996

We have experienced a patient, 16 year-old male, with ventricular septal defect with tricuspid recur- gitation due to blunt chest trauma. He suffered from congestive heart failure after the trauma. Echocardiogram and cardiac catheterization revealed left to right shunt at the ventricular level (muscu- far portion of interventricular septum) and tricuspid regurgitation. At the time of the operation, marked systolic thrill was palpable over the rlght ventricle near the apex and a chorda tendina was seen sharply ruptured just near the medial papillary muscle. We repaired the ventricular septal defect with a Dacron patch and chordal reconstruction with autologous pericardium. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged in good condition.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.220-224
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• 1989

In candidates for aortic valve replacement [AVR]it is our primary intention to implant the largest possible vale prosthesis of at least 23 mm in diameter in patients with severe valvular aortic stenosis. However, in many patients there is an additional subvalvular asymmetric septal hypertrophy which in some cases may cause an postextrasystolic increase of the LV-aortic gradient. Another component of the aortic stenosis syndrome is a narrow valvular ring, or a combination of both. After complete removal of the diseased valve and decalcification the narrow aortic ring [< 23 mm] can be widened firstly by transaortic subvalvular septal myectomy- [TSM] thus unfolding the left ventricular outflow tract[LVOT]and secondly by extending the oblique aortic incision into the aortic valve ring or further down into the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve. The sub-and supra-valvular defect will be closed by patch enlargement of the aortic root [PEAR] using autologous pericardium. These techniques allow a considerable enlargement of the valvular ring of about 4 to 10 mm in circumference. In a retrospective study using a computerized program, 847 patients with AVR [1980-1984]were reviewed to evaluate the intraoperative hemodynamic results mainly concerning relief of the transvalvular gradient. In 626 patients AVR was performed, 151 patients had double valve replacement [AVR+MVR], and 70 patients had AVR plus additional surgical procedures. Concentrating on the AVR-group [n=626] there were 103 patients with TSM, 24 patients with PEAR and 20 patients with TSM+PEAR which demonstrated that in a total, of 147 patients of this groups [23.5%] an additional procedure was necessary. The Statistical evaluation of the intraoperative pressure measurements before and after AVR in relation to the size of the implanted prostheses indicated the lowest preoperative mean gradient in patients with AVR alone, the highest in patients who afforded TSM plus PEAR. However, after AVR the mean gradients in all three groups were very low [mean 5 to 10 mmHg]. These data indicate that in patients with a narrow aortic ring and additional considerable ASH, TSM and PEAR are suitable techniques to enlarge the aortic root to enable the implantation of an adequate aortic valve prosthesis. Long-term controls have shown that autologous pericardium is a qualified graft material for the ascending aorta.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.331-336
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• 1996

Four operative cases of aortic valvuloplasty with leaflet extension technique using glutaraldehyde preserved tautologous pericardium are described. All patients had severe aortic regurgitation on preoperative echocardiogram, and Grade W AR on oath-angiogram. The causes of aortic regurgitation were rheumatic fever in 2 cases, degenerative change in 1 case, and 1 case of unknown cause. The autologous pericardium was fixed In a 0.625% glutaraldehyde solution for 15 minutes and rinsed in saline for an additional 15 minutes. Leaflet extension technique varied in 4 patients depending on the site and the extent of the leaflet size and lesion. There was no hospital mortality and no thromboembolic episode without anticoagulation. Post-operative cardiac size was reduced on simple chest film in all cases, and LVESD and LVEDD were reduced on folio w- up echo cardi o gram . This experience permits us to conclude that leaflet extension technique is simple and safe in valve r construction, allowing repair of aortic valves that need to be replaced.