• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.224-227
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• 2021

Here, we report the rare case of a 13-year-old girl with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (also known as Bochdalek hernia), which was revealed to be an extralobar pulmonary sequestration that was treated using laparoscopic and video-assisted thoracic surgery sequestrectomy and repair of the diaphragm defect after detection of a supradiaphragmatic mass connected with the retroperitoneum. The patient showed no postoperative complications at a 1-month follow-up examination.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.147-150
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• 2023

A child being supported with an extracorporeal ventricular assist device, such as the Berlin Heart EXCOR (Berlin Heart GmbH, Berlin, Germany), must have at least 2 large cannulae for a long period. Management of cannula wounds is crucial since a cannula forms a track of prosthetic material passing the mediastinum to the heart. Deep wound complications, if they occur, can be troublesome and difficult to control with conventional methods. We applied vacuum-assisted closure to a patient who had Berlin-Heart EXCOR and a gap at the cannulation site. Herein, we describe the technical aspects of management in detail.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.275-279
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• 1984

Between June 1, 1971 and June 31, 1983, 90 patients of esophageal carcinoma were experienced at N.M.C. Surgery was applied to 63 patients [70%]; Exploratory operations, including feeding gastrostomy, feeding jejunostomy, & esophagecutenostomy with feeding gastrostomy, was done in 26 patients due to advanced stage or general condition. Esophagogastrectomy [or esophagectomy] with esophagogastrostomy was done in 25 patients, curative operation in 9 patients & palliative operation in 16 patients. Colon bypass in 12 patients, 7 cases with tumor resection & 5 cases without resection. Postoperative complications were anastomotic leakage [14.3%], respiratory complications [19.1%], & others. Anastomotic leakage & respiratory complications were major fatal complication in surgery of esophageal carcinoma. Postoperative mortality was mainly due to respiratory complications [14.3%] & anastomotic leakage [7.9%].

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.30-34
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• 2012

Background: The long-term results of homografts used in systemic circulation are controversial. We assessed the long-term results of using a cryopreserved homograft for an aortic root or aorta and its branch replacement. Materials and Methods: From June 1995 to January 2010, 23 patients (male:female=15:8, $45.4{\pm}15.6$ years) underwent a homograft replacement in the aortic position. The surgical techniques used were aortic root replacement in 15 patients and aortic graft interposition in 8 patients. Indications for the use of a homograft were systemic vasculitis (n=15) and complicated infection (n=8). The duration of clinical follow-up was $65{\pm}58$ months. Results: Early mortality occurred in 2 patients (8.7%). Perioperative complications included atrial arrhythmia (n=3), acute renal failure (n=3), and low cardiac output syndrome (n=2). Late mortality occurred in 6 patients (26.1%). The overall survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 66.3% and 59.6%, respectively. Six patients (28.6%) suffered from homograft-related complications. Conclusion: Early results of homograft replacement in aortic position were favorable. However, close long-term follow-up is required due to the high rate of homograft-related events.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.1012-1017
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• 2010

Purpose: Transcatheter closure has become an effective therapy in most patients with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). However, there are difficulties in transcatheter closure of PDA in small children. We reviewed clinical outcomes of transcatheter closure of PDA in children weighing less than 10 kg in a single center. Methods: Between January 2003 and December 2009, 314 patients with PDA underwent transcatheter closure in our institute. Among them, 115 weighed less than 10 kg. All of these patients underwent transcatheter closure of PDA using either COOK Detachable $Coil^{(R)}$, PFM Nit-$Occlud^{(R)}$, or Amplatzer duct $occluder^{(R)}$. A retrospective review of the treatment results and complications was performed. Results: The mean age of patients was $9.1{\pm}5.9$ months (median, 8 months), and mean weight was $7.6{\pm}1.8kg$ (median, 7.8 kg). The mean diameter of PDA was $3.2{\pm}1.4mm$ (median, 3 mm). Complete occlusion occurred in 113 patients (98%). One patient was sent to surgery because of a failed attempt at device closure, and another patient had a small residual shunt after device placement. The average mean length of hospital stay was $3.0{\pm}3.3$ days, and mean follow-up duration was $21.0{\pm}19.6$ months. There were no major complications in any of the patients. Conclusion: Transcatheter closure of PDA is considered safe and efficacious in infants weighing less than 10 kg. With sufficient experience and further effort, transcatheter closure of PDA can be accepted as the gold standard of treatment for this group of patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.116-119
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• 2008

Transcatheter interventions are widely used for diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart disease. Complications associated with transcatheter interventions are uncommon. However, when they occur they are most often self-limited. Rarely, however, serious catheter related complications occur that may require emergent surgical intervention. In this case, the right common iliac artery was disrupted during transcatheter balloon valvuloplasty during the treatment of congenital aortic stenosis in a 2-week-old baby. After immediate surgical intervention with bleeding control using two balloon catheters the baby did well. Here we report this case and review the medical literature.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.62-71
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• 2000

Background: For the purpose of reducing operating time and rate of anastomotic leakage, we have performed esophagovisceral anastomosis with an EEA stapler using the largest size possible. If any difficulty in the approach of the EEA stapler was encountered one-layer interrupted hand-sewn anastomosis. Because the rate of postoperative benign anastomotic stricture was higher than expected, a retrospective study was done on all patients who underwent esophageal reconstruction. Material and Method: Over a period of 3 years from January 1996 to December 1998, we performed esophageal reconstructions on 30 patients. Patients were divided into two groups ; EEA stapler group(Group Ⅰ) comprised of 21 patients and hand-sewn group(Group Ⅱ) comprised of 9 patients.Result:The hospital mortality was 6.67 %(2/30) and the anastomotic leakage rate was 3.33 %(1/30). Among the discharged patients, the rate of recurrent anastomotic tumor was 3.57 %(1/28) and the rate of benign anastomotic stricture stricture rate was 35 %(7/20) in Group Ⅰ and 12.5 %(1/8) in Group Ⅱ, which was not significant. Conclusion: Although nontumor benign stricture was significantly higher in Group Ⅱ than in Group Ⅰ(p=0.0492), the incidence of anastomotic complications did not differ between the two groups. The one-layer interrupted hand-sewn esophagovisceral anastomosis by maintaining a wide lumen and close approximation of mucosa to mucosal layers with evenly spaced sutures could be one of the preferred surgical method to reduce benign anastomotic strictures.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.6-13
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• 2023

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been found to cause life-threatening respiratory failure, which can progress to irreversible lung damage. Lung transplantation can be a life-saving treatment in patients with terminal lung disease (e.g., acute respiratory distress syndrome caused by infection). This study aimed to present the clinical course and results after initial lung transplantation in patients with severe COVID-19 who did not recover even with optimal medical care. Methods: From August 2019 to February 2022, this study enrolled 10 patients with COVID-19 (5 men; median age, 55.7 years) who underwent lung transplantation at a single center in Korea. All patients' characteristics, clinical pathway, overall survival, complications, and operative data were collected and analyzed. Results: Veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation or an oxygenator in a right ventricular assist device circuit was applied to 90% of the patients, and the median length of extracorporeal life support before operation was 48.5 days. There were no cases of mortality after a median follow-up of 372.8 days (interquartile range, 262.25-489 days). The major complications included the requirement for postoperative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support in 2 cases (20%), re-transplantation in 1 case (10%), and re-exploration due to bleeding in 2 cases (20%). During the follow-up period, 3 out of 10 patients died. Conclusion: Excellent early outcomes were observed for patients who underwent lung transplantation. Thus, lung transplantation can be an effective and feasible treatment for patients with end-stage lung disease caused by COVID-19.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.280-284
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• 2010

Background: The postoperative management following lung transplantation has dramatically improved in the recent decade. However, some complications still remain as troublesome problems. We retrospectively reviewed the gastrointestinal complications and their management after lung transplantation. Material and Method: We performed a retrospective review of the medical records of 25 cases in 23 patients who underwent lung and heart-lung transplantations from July 1996 to March 2009. The definition of gastrointestinal complication was the gastrointestinal tract-related disease that occurred after lung transplantation. There were eight postoperative deaths (within postoperative 30 days) that were excluded from the analysis. Result: Twenty three gastrointestinal complications occurred in 11 (64.7%) of the 17 cases. The median follow-up period was 6.9 months (range: 2 months to 111 months), and chronic gastritis (23.5%, 4 of 17 cases) was the most common complication. Severe, prolonged (more than 2 weeks) diarrhea occurred in 3 cases. Three patients had gastric ulcer with one case requiring gastric primary closure for gastric ulcer perforation. This patient had gastric bleeding due to recurrent gastric ulcer 2 months after laparotomy. Cytomegalovirus gastritis and esophagitis occurred in 2 cases and 1 case, respectively, and esophageal ulcer occurred in 2 cases. There were esophageal strictures in 2 patients who underwent esophageal stent insertion. Other complications were one case each of ileus, early gastric cancer requiring endoscopic mucosal resection, gall bladder stone accompanied with jaundice, and pseudomembranous colitis. Conclusion: The incidence of gastrointestinal complication is relatively high in patients after they undergo lung transplantation. Since gastrointestinal complications can induce malnutrition, which might be related to considerable morbidity and mortality, close follow-up is necessary for the early detection and proper management of gastrointestinal complications.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.225-232
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• 2014

Background: Redo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is still associated with increased morbidity and mortality as compared to the first-time operation. Further, the application of the off-pump technique to redo CABG is limited due to technical difficulties. The aim of this retrospective study was to analyze early and midterm results after redo CABG and compare the outcome of redo on-pump and off-pump CABG. Methods: From June 1996 to October 2011, elective redo CABG was performed in 32 patients. Mean age was 64.8 years (on pump 64.3 years vs. off pump 65.5 years; p=0.658), and 21 patients were male. Among these patients, 14 (43.8%) underwent on-pump CABG, and 18 (56.2%) underwent off-pump CABG. Results: Internal thoracic artery was used in 22 patients (68.8%), and total arterial revascularization was achieved in 17 patients (53.1%). The average number of distal anastomoses was 2.13, and the rate of incomplete revascularization was 43.8%. The rate of total arterial revascularization was higher in the off-pump group (14.3% vs. 83.3%, p<0.001), and the use of saphenous vein graft was more in the on-pump group (78.6% vs. 16.7%, p<0.001). Overall hospital mortality was 3.1% (n=1) and was comparable in both groups (on pump 7.1% vs. off pump 0%; p=0.249). Postoperative complications occurred in 9 patients (64.2%), and the rate of complications was high in the on-pump group without statistical significance (64.2% vs. 33.3%, p=0.082). The mean follow-up duration was 5.4 years, and overall survival at 10 years was $86.0%{\pm}10.5%$. There was no significant difference in the 10-year survival rate between the two groups (79.6% vs. 100%, p=0.225). Conclusion: Redo CABG can be safely performed with acceptable mortality. Redo off-pump coronary artery bypass is feasible with low mortality and morbidity, comparable target vessel bypass grafting, and long-term survival. The off-pump technique might be considered a safe option for redo CABG in high-risk patients.