• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.533-535
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• 2014

A 56-year-old male presented with severe exertional dyspnea and pitting edema in the lower extremities. The preoperative evaluation demonstrated biventricular dysfunction associated with severe tricuspid valve regurgitation and a persistent left superior vena cava. He was registered as a transplantation candidate, and orthotopic heart transplantation was performed using the standard bicaval technique. The left superior vena cava was connected to the right atrial appendage after the construction of a conduit using the recipient's autologous coronary sinus tissue. One-month postoperatively, computed tomography imagery demonstrated a patent conduit between the left superior vena cava and right atrial appendage.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.285-290
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• 1981

Bacterial endocarditis is a well-recognized complication of prosthetic valve replacement. Postoperative fungal endocarditis of aortitis has been reported with increasing frequency. Aspergillus endocarditis or aortitis following open heart surgery has been reported in several patients. The difficulty in the diagnosis of this type of infection, the problems of therapy of prosthetic valve endocarditis0 and the relative ineffectiveness of antifungal agents account for the high mortality. Recently, we have experienced a patient with aspergillus aortitis after replacement of mitral valve. The diagnosis was finally established by histotogical examination of emboli removed from the femoral artery. The patient died after second open heart surgery for replacement of ascending aorta.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.25-30
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• 2021

Background: Life-long anticoagulant therapy is mandatory for patients who undergo heart valve replacement with implantation of a mechanical prosthesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a nurse-led patient educational program concerning oral anticoagulant therapy intake after heart valve replacement surgery on patients' knowledge of important parameters of anticoagulant administration. Methods: In this single-center study, 200 patients who underwent surgical implantation of a mechanical prosthesis were divided into 2 groups. The control group received the basic education concerning oral anticoagulants, while the intervention group received a personalized educational program. Results: Personalized education was correlated with a better regulation of therapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) levels and adequate knowledge among patients. Therapeutic levels of INR were achieved in 45% of the patients during the first month, 71% in the third month, and 89% in the sixth month after discharge in the intervention group, compared to 25%, 47%, and 76% in the control group, respectively. Patients' satisfaction with the information was higher in the intervention group than in the control group. The percentage of satisfaction reached 80% for the intervention group versus 37% for the patients of the control group. Conclusion: The implementation of the nurse-led educational programs was associated with improved clinical results and increased adherence to oral anticoagulant treatment.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.812-819
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• 2003

Background: Left ventricular dysfunction is one of the important prognostic factors of early mortality and long-term survival after valve operation. We studied the intermediate term results of mitral valve reconstruction in patients with moderate to severe left ventricular dysfunction. Material and Method: Forty four patients who underwent mitral valve reconstruction with a left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) of <45% or less (20∼45%) from April 1995 through July 2001 were reviewed retrospectively. Ages ranged from 10 to 67 years (46∼14 years) and 32 patients were in NYHA class III-IV. The mitral valve diseases were regurgitation (MR) in 28 patients, stenosis(MS) in 10, and mixed lesion in 5. The etiologies of mitral valve disease were rheumatic in 20 patients, degenerative in 14, ischemic in 5, annular dilatation in 2, congenital in 2, and endocarditis in 1. Operatively, all patients had annuloplasty and/or various valvuloplasty techniques, and a total of 52 procedures were concomitantly performed. Total cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic crossclamp time were 160$\pm$57 minutes and 112$\pm$45 minutes respectively. Result: Two operative deaths occurred as a result of left ventricular failure (4.5%). After the mean follow-up of 39 months (range, 10∼83 months), there was no late death. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed no or grade I of MR in 29 patients (72.5%) and no or mild MS in 35 patients (87.5%). The actuarial survival at 5 years was 100%. Four patients required mitral valve replacement due to progressive mitral valvular disease. The actuarial freedom from valve-related reoperation at 5 years was 84$\pm$9%. Conclusion: This study suggests that mitral valve reconstruction in patients with moderate to severe left ventricular dysfunction offers good early and intermediate survival and acceptable freedom from valve-related reoperation, and it is the strategy for effective management for these patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 1983

Valve replacement in children, aging up to 15 years [Mean 11.g years], has been done at Seoul National University Hospital over the past 14 years since 1968. Fifty-one patients have received 59 artificial valves: 55 bioprosthetic and 4 prosthetic valves. Thirty-one patients [60.8%] had rheumatic heart disease and the remainder [39.2%] had congenital heart disease. Forty-two patients [82.4%] survived operation: 9 patients [17.7%] died within one monfi3 postoperatively and 4 patients [7.8%]during the follow-up period with the overall mortality rate of Thromboembolic complication occurred in 3 patients with 2 deaths: 5.9% embolic rate or 4.68% emboli per patient-year. One patient who had been on coumadin anticoagulation died from cerebral hemorrhage. One mitral Ionescu-Shiley valve failed 19 months after first replacement and this was successfully re-replaced with the same kind of valve. Actuarial survival rate was 59.9% at 4 years after surgery. Thromboembolism-free and valve failure-free survivals were 80.0% and 93.1% respectively. These clinical results in the pediatric age group suggested that valve replacement in children was a serious undertaking with a higher mortality rate than in adults. However, the main superiority on the low thrombogenecity of the xenograft valve over the mechanical one warrants its continuing use until the question of its durability would otherwise be answered by a further study of clinical follow-up.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.223-229
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• 1987

Doppler echocardiography provides valuable information regarding prosthetic heart valve function rather than structure. There are three methods of expressing the severity of mitral valve obstruction: the transvalvular pressure gradient, effective valve area, and pressure half-time. Of these, the transvalvular pressure gradient [~p] can be determined by the measurement of maximum transvalvular blood flow velocity [V] according to the modified Bernoulli`s equation [gp=4V*]. Eleven patients, who underwent mitral valve replacement with Duromedics mechanical prostheses, and 17 normal persons were investigated. There were significantly higher calculated pressure gradients in prosthetic than normal mitral valves [9.*10*2.22mmHg-vs-3.26*0.99mmHg:p<0,01], and there was a inverse relationship between pressure gradient and prosthetic valve size [11.17*0.%mmHg in size 27mm and 29mm -v- 7.38*1.12mmHg in size 31mm and 33mm; r=0.85, p<0.01] The noninvasive Doppler technique should be useful in the diagnosis of prosthetic valve obstruction.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1346-1353
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• 1992

From Febrary 1984 to July 1992, 138 cases of multiple valve replacements were performed at the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Dongsan Medical Center, Keimyung University. There were 81 females and 57 males, and their ages ranged from 19 to 60 years [mean age, 40.1$\pm$10.9 years]. Thirteen of these patients had undergone previous cardiovascular procedures, with an average of 76.3 months between procedures[range, 3 to 180 months]. Mitral and aortic valve replacement were done in 135 patients, 2 underwent triple valve replacement and 1 underwent mitral and tricuspid valve replacement. Associated procedures were necessary in 20 patients[14.5%]. The operative mortality was 5.8% and the most common cause was low cardiac output. Late follow-up of 83% has been accomplished in 130 early survivors, with a late mortality of 5.9%. The late mortality was due to valve thrombosis in 2 patients, cerebral infarction in 1, heart failure in 1, arrhythmia in 1, and bleeding in l. Of those patients who survived, New York Heart Association functional class improved significantly[from 70% class III and IV before to 88% class I and II after]. Actuarial survival rate including all deaths was 88.8% at 8 years. The follow-up studies revealed that thromboembolism, reoperation and bleeding rate were 1.2%/patient-year, 0.85% /patient-year and 0.57%/patient-year at 8 years postoperatively. We concluded that valve thrombosis, embolism, and anticoagulant-related hemorrhage were the main risk factors of longterm survival of patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.759-763
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• 1994

Between November 1990 and December 1993, 9 patients underwent surgical intervention for acute active endocarditis at Gyeongsang National University Hospital. All the patients were operated on within the first six weeks after onset of symptoms for various reasons. Surgical indications for early surgery were heart failure, systemic septic emboli, new murmur and growing vegetation. Most common infecting organism was Staphylococcus[55 %], and the others were Streptococcus, anaerobes, Candida and unknown in 1 case. The infection was in the mitral valve in 5 patients, the aortic valve in 2, the aortic and mitral in 1, and the aortic and pulmonary in 1. There was one operative death[11 %] and no late death. Preoperative Functional Class were II in 4 patients, III in 5 and after surgery all the patients improved to Class I. We conclude that early surgical intervention in acute active endocarditis is effective in most instances.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.584-594
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• 1986

Despite the multivariate improvements in tissue treatment, material, and design of prosthetic heart valves in recent years, numerous complications that may lead to valve dysfunction remain a constant threat after valve replacement. Most common indications for prosthetic valve failure are primary valve failure, infective endocarditis, paravalvular leakage, and thromboembolism. From 1977 to 1986, 15 patients underwent reoperation for prosthetic valve failure in 278 cases of valve surgery. The etiology of prosthetic valve failure were primary valve failure in 12 patients [80 %], infective endocarditis in 2 patients [13.3 %], and a paravalvular leakage [6.7 %]. The average durations of implantation were 45.5 months; 53.9 months in primary valve failure, 16 months in infective endocarditis, and 4 months in paravalvular leakage. The rate of valve failure was high under age of 30 [11/15]. Calcifications and collagen disruption of prosthesis were main cause of primary valve failure in macro- & micropathology. Prosthesis used in reoperation were 5 tissue valves and 10 mechanical valves. Operative mortality were 13.3 % [2/15], due to intractable endocarditis and ventricular arrhythmia.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.889-893
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• 1988

We experienced a case of infective endocarditis of aortic valve and tricuspid valve associated with a fistula between aorta and right ventricle. The patient was 35 years old woman and showed severe congestive heart failure. Large and multiple vagetations were found on the valvular surfaces and a fistula was present between aorta and right ventricle. Probably infective endocarditis of aortic valve resulted in annular abscess and as it healed, a fistula was formed and tricuspid valve endocarditis followed. We replaced the aortic valve and tricuspid valve with St. Jude mechanical prostheses, and closed the fistula opening with suture. The postoperative course was smooth and the patient has no problems till now 4 months after operation.