• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.381-388
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• 1984

Cor triatriatum is rare congenital cardiac anomaly first described by Church in 1868. The anomaly consists of an abnormal partitioning of the left atrium by a fibromuscular membrane that divides the atrium into an upper chamber, which receives the pulmonary veins, and a lower chamber, which contains the atrial appendage and the mitral valve. The upper and lower chambers communicate through a stenotic fenestration in the membrane, which has the hemodynamic consequence of pulmonary venous obstruction. Recently we experienced cot triatriatum associated with partial anomalous pulmonary drainage to right atrium. The upper chamber was connected to right atrium through a sinus venous type of ASD and received left superior and both inferior pulmonary vein, whereas the lower chamber so called true left atrium communicated with right atrium through foramen ovale type of ASD, left atrial appendage and mitral orifice. And the anomalous membrane has no fenestrations which permit blood flow. The operation was made right atrial approach under the CPB. We excised completely the anomalous septum and reconstructed atrial septal defect with pericardial patch to drain the right upper pulmonary vein to the left atrium. The postoperative course has been good during follow up.

• 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.18 no.2
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• pp.293-298
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• 1985

Cor triatriatum is a rare congenital malformation of the heart in which a septum stretches in a transverse plane through the left atrium, thus creates two left atrial subchambers. The upper one connects with the pulmonary veins, and the lower connects with the left ventricles. Due to the rarity of, and difficulty in diagnosing car triatriatum, data on the surgery of the disease are of necessity and very limited. A case of cor triatriatum combined with atrial septal defect and persistent left superior vena cava was experienced in November, 1984 in Chonnam University Medical School. There was a transverse septum in the left atrium below atrial septal defect, all pulmonary veins were drained into the upper chamber of the left atrium which connected with the right atrium via atrial septal defect and the lower chamber via an oval opening[8mm] in the abnormal septum and the lower chamber was connected with the left atrial appendage, and the left ventricle via mitral valve. There was persistent left superior vena cava drained to left atrium and coronary sinus. The abnormal transverse septum within the left atrium was completely excised and the atrial septal defect was repaired with Woven Dacron patch. The post-operative course was not eventful and the patient was discharged to home with good result on the 15th postoperative day, and has been in good condition upto now.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.158-161
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• 1990

A congenital coronary artery fistula is an uncommon anomaly which has a direct communication between a coronary artery and the lumen of any one of the four cardiac chambers, or the coronary sinus, or its tributary veins or the superior vena cava. The right coronary artery is involved most frequently, and the abnormal communication in most often is to the right ventricle followed in incidence by drainage into the right atrium and the pulmonary artery. Recently. we experienced a case of congenital coronary artery fistula associated with valvular heart disease. The fistulous communication was noted between the left circumflex artery and the left atrial appendage. Under the cardiopulmonary bypass, the internal obliteration of the left atrial appendage, mitral valve replacement, and aortic valve exploration were accomplished. Postoperative hospital course was uneventful and the patient was discharged without any problems.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.939-942
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• 1999

Partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection is frequently found in any ASD(atrial septal defect) patients. These patients are usually symptomatic, therefore, easily diagnosed as just simple ASD. We experienced a case of a 37-year-old female patient with ASD in which the left upper pulmonary vein was connected to SVC by the left inominate vein. The patient was diagnosed as simple ASD previously. During cardiac catheterization, we found a meaningful oxygen saturation step up between the SVC and its upper portion. Angiogram confirmed PAPVC. The surgical correction of anastomosis of PAPVC with left atrial appendage and direct closure of ASD were done. The patient was discharged 15 days later.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.2
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• pp.272-289
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• 2020

Current advances in CT techniques allow thorough evaluation of the beating heart. The strengths of cardiac CT relative to echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging are its high availability in most institutions, rapid production of high-quality images, and outstanding delineation of the anatomy. For many normal variants and pathologic conditions, such as thrombi, masses, and congenital abnormalities of the left atrium, CT findings are sufficient to make a presumptive diagnosis. Assessments of the left atrium and left atrial appendage are particularly important for the management of atrial fibrillation, as various catheter-based procedures are aimed at the mechanical and electrical isolation of these structures. CT offers information crucial to a successful catheter-based procedure or surgery. Therefore, a comprehensive review of the geometry (shape, size, and relative position), along with various CT imaging features of pathologic states, should be provided in radiology reports to be of clinical value.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 1969

Superior Vena Cava Syndrome: Dacron and Nylon graft between the left innominate vein and the right atrial appendage. Two cases with typical superior vena cave syndrome treated by by-pass graft between the left innominate vein and the right atrial apepndage were presented. One of them was a 58 year old farmer who suffered from marked swelling of the neck and upper half of body, the other was a 50 years old government employee who had acutely progressive symptoms of superior vena cave obstruction. Both of cases revealed that [1] cubitel venous pressure was markedly increased. [2] tumors were noted in the posterior mediastinum by laminography. [3] preoperative cavogram showed the occlusion of superior vena cava and marked collaterals. Dacron and Nylon graft were inserted between the left innominate vein and the right atrial appendage. Postoperatively, the symptoms were relieved markedly, showing edema free face and decreased cubital venous pressure. Postoperative cavogram showed patent graft. Histologically the first case was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma and the second as undifferentiated carcinoma, originated probably from bronchus. Total doses of 3150 r X-ray irradiation and 5000 mg of 5-FU were administered in each cases. The first case expired 11 months postoperatively without recurrence of superior vena cave obstruction symptom and the second case is living now without obstruction signs, 4 months after by-pass operation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.12
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• pp.909-914
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• 1993

Complete and optimal visualization of the mitral apparatus is a prerequisite for accurate repair or replacement of the mitral valve. A vertical left atriotomy just posterior to the interatrial groove is the most commonly used approach. However,exposure can be difficult under certain circumstances,such as small left atrium or reoperation. Other approaches have been advocated to deal with this difficult situations. We used an extended transseptal approach in 10 patients and good clinical results and excellent educational effects were obtained. The extended transseptal approach combines two semicircular atrial incisions circumscribing the tricuspid and mitral annuli anteriorly and superiorly,allowing exposure of the mitral valve by deflecting the ventricular side using stay sutures. The right atrium is opened anteriorly along the atrioventricular sulcus. The atrial septum is incised vertically through the fossa ovalis. Right atrial and septal incisions are joined at the superior end of the interatrial septum and extended across the dome of the left atrium to the left atrial appendage. The mitral valve was replaced in all 10 patients. Four of 10 patients had other simultaneous valve procedure: one had aortic valve replacement: 2 underwent tricuspid annuloplasty: 1 had aortic valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty. There was no hospital death and complication. Among the 5 patients who had atrial fibrillation preoperatively,4 had atrial fibrillation postoperatively,1 converted to sinus rhythm. The five patients who were in normal sinus rhythm preoperatively remained in sinus rhythm after replacement. A review of our results with this approach confirms the efficacy and safty of this method. So we recommanded this approach for routine mitral valve procedure,especially difficult situations,such as a small left atrium or the redo operation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.383-388
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• 2021

Background: Achieving external access to and manual occlusion of the left atrial appendage (LAA) during minimally invasive mitral valve surgery (MIMVS) through a small right thoracotomy is difficult. Occlusion of the LAA using an epicardial closure device seems quite useful compared to other surgical techniques. Methods: Fourteen patients with atrial fibrillation underwent MIMVS with concomitant surgical occlusion of the LAA using double-layered endocardial closure stitches (n=6, endocardial suture group) or the AtriClip Pro closure device (n=8, AtriClip group) at our institution. The primary safety endpoint was any device-related adverse event, and the primary efficacy endpoint was successful complete occlusion of blood flow into the LAA as assessed by transthoracic echocardiography at hospital discharge. The primary efficacy endpoint for stroke reduction was the occurrence of ischemic or hemorrhagic neurologic events. Results: All patients underwent LAA occlusion as scheduled. The cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times in the endocardial suture group and the AtriClip group were 202±39 and 128±41 minutes, and 213±53 and 136±44 minutes, respectively (p=0.68, p=0.73). No patients in either group experienced any device-related serious adverse events, incomplete LAA occlusion, early postoperative stroke, or neurologic complication. Conclusion: Epicardial LAA occlusion using the AtriClip Pro during MIMVS in patients with mitral valve disease and atrial fibrillation is a simple, safe, and effective adjunctive procedure.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 1985

Cortriatriatum is rare congenital heart disease characterized by the presence of a fibromuscular diaphragm that subdivides the left atrium into a proximal or "accessory" and a distal or "true" left atrial chamber. A 15 year old girl with cortriatriatum underwent surgical correction at the department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Soonchunhyang College in November, 1984. This case was preoperatively diagnosed as a single atrium with functional tricuspid regurgitation But on operation, we found that there were transverse septum in the left atrium through large ASD, low chamber receives the pulmonary veins, and the upper chamber gives rise to the left atrial appendage and leads to the mitral valve. And the anomalous membrane has no fenestrations. We excised completely the anomalous septum, reconstructed atrial septal defect with dacron patch and performed the tricuspid annuloplasty with DeVega method. Postoperative course was uneventful during follow up, during follow up.