• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.44 no.6
• /
• pp.399-405
• /
• 2011

Background: Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy caused by aortic valve stenosis (AS) leads to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. We sought to determine whether aortic valve replacement (AVR) decreases LV mass and improves LV function. Materials and Methods: Retrospective review for 358 consecutive patients, who underwent aortic valve replacement for degenerative AS between January 1995 and December 2008, was performed. There were 230 men and 128 women, and their age at operation was $63.2{\pm}10$ years (30~85 years). Results: There was no in-hospital mortality, and mean follow-up duration after discharge was 48.9 months (2~167 months). Immediate postoperative echocardiography revealed that LV mass index and mean gradient across the aortic valve decreased significantly (p<0.001), and LV mass continued to decrease during the follow-up period (p<0.001). LV ejection fraction (EF) temporarily decreased postoperatively (p<0.001), but LV function recovered immediately and continued to improve with a significant difference between preoperative and postoperative EF (p<0.001). There were 15 late deaths during the follow-up period, and overall survival at 5 and 10 years were 94% and 90%, respectively. On multivariable analysis, age at operation (p=0.008), concomitant coronary bypass surgery (p<0.003), lower preoperative LVEF (<40%) (p=0.0018), and higher EUROScore (>7) (p=0.045) were risk factors for late death. Conclusion: After AVR for degenerative AS, reduction of left ventricular mass and improvement of left ventricular function continue late after operation.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.61 no.2
• /
• pp.59-63
• /
• 2018

Purpose: Cardiomyopathy is becoming the leading cause of death in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy because mechanically assisted lung ventilation and assisted coughing have helped resolve respiratory complications. To clarify cardiopulmonary function, we compared cardiac function between the home ventilator-assisted and non-ventilator-assisted groups. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy from January 2010 to March 2016 at Gangnam Severance Hospital. Demographic characteristics, pulmonary function, and echocardiography data were investigated. Results: Fifty-four patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were divided into 2 groups: home ventilator-assisted and non-ventilator-assisted. The patients in the home ventilator group were older ($16.25{\pm}1.85years$) than those in the nonventilator group ($14.73{\pm}1.36years$) (P=0.001). Height, weight, and body surface area did not differ significantly between groups. The home ventilator group had a lower seated functional vital capacity ($1,038{\pm}620.41mL$) than the nonventilator group ($1,455{\pm}603.2mL$). Mean left ventricular ejection fraction and fractional shortening were greater in the home ventilator group, but the data did not show any statistical difference. The early ventricular filling velocity/late ventricular filling velocity ratio ($1.7{\pm}0.44$) was lower in the home ventilator group than in the nonventilator group ($2.02{\pm}0.62$. The mitral valve annular systolic velocity was higher in the home ventilator group (estimated ${\beta}$, 1.06; standard error, 0.48). Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy on a ventilator may have better systolic and diastolic cardiac functions. Conclusion: Noninvasive ventilator assistance can help preserve cardiac function. Therefore, early utilization of noninvasive ventilation or oxygen may positively influence cardiac function in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

• Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
• /
• v.36 no.10
• /
• pp.825-835
• /
• 2009

The advance in medical technology has decreased death rates from diseases such as tubercle, pneumonia, malnutrition, and hepatitis. However, death rates from cardiac diseases are still increasing. To prevent cardiac diseases and quantify cardiac function, magnetic resonance imaging not harmful to the body is used for calculating blood volumes and ejection fraction(EF) on routine clinics. In this paper, automatic left ventricle(LV) segmentation is presented to segment LV and calculate blood volume and EF, which can replace labor intensive and time consuming manual contouring. Radial threshold determination is designed to segment LV and blood volume and EF are calculated. Especially, basal slices which were difficult to segment in previous researches are segmented automatically almost without user intervention. On short axis cardiac MRI of 36 subjects, the presented algorithm is compared with manual contouring and General Electronic MASS software. The results show that the presented algorithm performs in similar to the manual contouring and outperforms the MASS software in accuracy.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.55 no.9
• /
• pp.350-353
• /
• 2012

An 18-year-old boy was admitted with chest discomfort, nausea, and dyspnea at rest. At the age of 3 years, he underwent muscle biopsy and dystrophin gene analysis owing to an enlarged calf muscle and elevated serum kinase level (6,378 U/L) without overt weakness; based on the results, Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) was diagnosed. The dystrophin gene showed deletion of exons 45 to 49. He remained ambulant and could step upstairs without significant difficulties. A chest roentgenogram showed cardiomegaly (cardiothoracic ratio, 54%), and his electrocardiogram (ECG) showed abnormal ST-T wave, biatrial enlargement, and left ventricular hypertrophy. The 2-dimensional and M-mode ECGs showed a severely dilated left ventricular cavity with diffuse hypokinesis. The systolic indices were reduced, including fractional shortening (9%) and ejection fraction (19%). Despite receiving intensive medical treatment, he died from congestive heart failure 5 months after the initial cardiac symptoms. We report a case of BMD with early-onset dilated cardiomyopathy associated with deletion of exons 45 to 49. Early cardiomyopathy can occur in BMD patients with certain genotypes; therefore, careful follow-up is required even in patients with mild phenotypes of BMD.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.216-231
• /
• 2003

Objectives: To develop a model that predicts a death probability of acute myocardial infarction(AMI) patient, and to evaluate a performance of hospital services using the developed model. Methods: Medical records of 861 AMI patients in 7 general hospitals during 1996 and 1997 were reviewed by two trained nurses. Variables studied were risk factors which were measured in terms of severity measures. A risk model was developed by using the logistic regression, and its performance was evaluated using cross-validation and bootstrap techniques. The statistical prediction capability of the model was assessed by using c-statistic, $R^2$ as well as Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic. The model performance was also evaluated using severity-adjusted mortalities of hospitals. Results: Variables included in the model building are age, sex, ejection fraction, systolic BP, congestive heart failure at admission, cardiac arrest, EKG ischemia, arrhythmia, left anterior descending artery occlusion, verbal response within 48 hours after admission, acute neurological change within 48 hours after admission, and 3 interaction terms. The c statistics and $R^2$ were 0.887 and 0.2676. The Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic was 6.3355 (p-value=0.6067). Among 7 hospitals evaluated by the model, two hospitals showed significantly higher mortality rates, while other two hospitals had significantly lower mortality rates, than the average mortality rate of all hospitals. The remaining hospitals did not show any significant difference. Conclusion: The comparison of the qualities of hospital service using risk-adjusted mortality rates indicated significant difference among them. We therefore conclude that risk-adjusted mortality rate of AMI patients can be used as an indicator for evaluating hospital performance in Korea.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.49 no.3
• /
• pp.171-176
• /
• 2016

Background: A previous percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may affect the outcomes of patients who undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The objective of this study was to compare the early in-hospital postoperative outcomes between patients who underwent CABG with or without previous PCI. Methods: The present study included 160 patients who underwent isolated elective on-pump CABG at the department of cardiothoracic surgery, Minia University Hospital from January 2010 to December 2014. Patients who previously underwent PCI (n=38) were compared to patients who did not (n=122). Preoperative, operative, and early in-hospital postoperative data were analyzed. The end points of the study were in-hospital mortality and postoperative major adverse events. Results: Non-significant differences were found between the study groups regarding preoperative demographic data, risk factors, left ventricular ejection fraction, New York Heart Association class, EuroSCORE, the presence of left main disease, reoperation for bleeding, postoperative acute myocardial infarction, a neurological deficit, need for renal dialysis, hospital stay, and in-hospital mortality. The average time from PCI to CABG was $13.9{\pm}5.4$ years. The previous PCI group exhibited a significantly larger proportion of patients who experienced in-hospital major adverse events (15.8% vs. 2.5%, p=0.002). On multivariate analysis, only previous PCI was found to be a significant predictor of major adverse events (odds ratio, 0.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.03 to 0.71; p=0.01). Conclusion: Previous PCI was found to have a significant effect on the incidence of early major adverse events after CABG. Further large-scale and long-term studies are recommended.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.35 no.9
• /
• pp.672-674
• /
• 2002

A 40-years-old male with dilated cardiomyopathy(DCMP) and end-stage heart failure had undergone partial left ventriculectomy(PLV) in July 1997 and then underwent cardiac transplantation in January 1999. Three months later he showed increased ejection fraction (EF) from 26% to 42.6%, decreased left ventricular end diastolic diameter(LVEDD) from 71mm to 45mm, cardiac output(CO) 3.95 L/min and cardiac index(CI) 2.28 L/min/m$^2$echocardiographically. Eight months later, left ventriclular end diastolic and systolic diameters increased to 56 and 51 mm respectively and EF decreased to 17% in echocardiographic follow-up. He had been on maximum medication until he underwent cardiac transplantation 18 months after the PLV. Consecutive myocardial biopsies (1, 3 and 6 month later) showed ISHLT (international society of heart and lung transplantation) class la and the treatment for rejection was not needed until now on. We report a partial left ventriculectomy as a successful bridge to cardiac transplantation in a patient with DCMP and end-stage heart failure.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.58 no.6
• /
• pp.218-223
• /
• 2015

Purpose: Idiopathic scoliosis is a structural lateral curvature of the spine of unknown etiology. The relationship between degree of spine curvature and cardiopulmonary function has not yet been investigated. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between scoliosis and cardiopulmonary characteristics. Methods: Ninety children who underwent preoperative pulmonary or cardiac evaluation at a single spine institution over 41 months were included. They were divided into the thoracic-dominant scoliosis (group A, n=78) and lumbar-dominant scoliosis (group B, n=12) groups. Scoliosis severity was evaluated using the Cobb method. In each group, relationships between Cobb angles and cardiopulmonary markers such as forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second ($FEV_1$), $FEV_1$/FVC, left ventricular ejection fraction, pulmonary artery flow velocity, and tissue Doppler velocities (E/E', E'/A') were analyzed by correlation analysis linear regression. Results: In group A, 72 patients (92.3%) underwent pulmonary function tests (PFTs), and 41 (52.6%) underwent echocardiography. In group B, 9 patients (75.0%) underwent PFT and 8 (66.7%) underwent echocardiography. Cobb angles showed a significant negative correlation with FVC and $FEV_1$ in group A (both P<0.05), but no such correlation in group B, and a significant negative correlation with mitral E/A ratio (P<0.05) and tissue Doppler E'/A' (P<0.05) in group A, with a positive correlation with mitral E/A ratio (P<0.05) in group B. Conclusion: Pulmonary and cardiac function was significantly correlated with the degree of scoliosis in patients with thoracic-dominant scoliosis. Myocardial diastolic function might be impaired in patients with the most severe scoliosis.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.11-23
• /
• 2014

Purpose: As the number of cases of heart transplantation (HT) and the survival rate have increased, concerns regarding post-HT life have grown. This study was conducted to explore the relationships of perceived social support to the depression and health status of HT recipients. Methods: This descriptive study targeted all recipients who had undergone HT at S University Hospital since 1994, and 32 recipients were recruited. Results: 90.6% of the recipients were men, and the average age at the time of surgery was $47.4{\pm}13.4$ years. The ejection fraction was increased from $18.47{\pm}5.63%$ to $63.25{\pm}7.57%$, and 31 cases of New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III and IV improved to class I or II after HT. The patients reported mild depression even with high perceived social support and improved health status after HT. Among those resource persons who offered support, they reported their spouse, doctors, and nurses as most meaningful to them. Conclusion: This study confirmed the positive effects of HT on the recipients' physical improvement. It also added the discovery that the importance of recipients' subjective perception of social support might be critical for their more successful recovery and adjustment to post-HT life. Focusing on a different approach to social support and types of social resources in the recovery phase is suggested for future studies on quality of life after HT.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.34 no.9
• /
• pp.720-723
• /
• 2001

A case of Marfan’s syndrome with atresia of right coronary artery is reported. A 45-year-old woman, who was diagnosed as Marfan’s syndrome 1 year ago, came to the hospital complaining of acute chest pain. The patient showed arachynodactyly, pectus carinatum, and long and slender extremities. In echocardiography there were severe aortic regurgitation measured grade IV and aortic dilatation of ascending aorta maximally 5.9 cm in diameter. Mitral regurgitation was mild, but there were also moderate left ventricular dilation and moderately decreased ejection fraction of left ventricle. At operation, atresia of right coronary artery was found. We performed Bentall type operation with SJM 27mm valved conduit for left coronary artery, and Piehler’s modification for right coronary artery bypass using 6mm PTFE graft. The atretic portion of right coronary artery from the suspected right coronary ostium to distal coronary flow was about 4 cm in length. The combination of right coronary artery atresia and Marfan’s syndrome is very rare. The author describes the rare case, which is treated with combined technique of Bentall and Piehler modification for reconstruction of coronary circulation.