• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.460-471
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• 1994

Between Feb. 1990 and Aug. 1993, 180 cases of the open heart surgery were performed under cardiopulmonary bypass in the Department of Thoracic & Cardiovascular surgery, Gil General Hospital. There were 83 cases with congenital heart diseases [CHD] and 97 cases with acquired heart diseases [AHD]. The CHD consisted of 78 acyanotic[mortality: 3.8 %] and 5 cyanotic cases with heart anomaly[mortality:l case]. The AHD were 97 cases, which contained 53 valvular, 27 ischemic heart diseases, 10 aortic diseases, 5 cases with myxoma, 1 case with post-infarct VSD, and 1 case with removal of infected pacing wire in right ventricle. In the 53 valvular heart diseases, there were 45 cases with valve replacement[MVR 27, AVR 9,MVR + AVR 9] and 8 cases with valvuloplasty. The number of the implanted prosthetic valves were 53. In MVR, 25 St. Jude, 6 Sorin, 3 Carpentier-Edward and 2 Intact medical valves were used. In aortic position, 13 St. Jude, 3 Sorin and 1 Intact medical valves were applied. The operative mortality was 5.6 % [3/53]. The annuloplasty applying artificial ring was performed in 17 patients[4 cases associated with MVR] and the number of the implanted ring was 19, which included 14 Duran ring[10 mitral, 4 tricuspid] and 5 Carpentier ring [3 mitral, 22 tricuspid]. In the 27 ischemic heart diseases, there were 9 cases with left main coronary artery lesions, 7 one vessel, 5 two vessels, and 6 three vessels. Average number of anastomosis was 2.8 per patient. The operative mortality was 14.3 % [4/27]. Among the 10 patients with aortic diseases, 7 cases were aortic dissection[type A: 5, type B: 2] and 3 cases were descending thoracic aortic aneurysm. The operative morality occurred in 3 cases. The overall mortality and the operative mortality of congenital and acquired heart disease was 7.8 %, 4.8% and 10.4%, respectively.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.7
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• pp.463-471
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• 2003

The long-term results of combined mitral valve repair and aortic valve replacement (AVR) have not been well evaluated. This study was performed to investigate the early and long-term results of mitral valve repair with AVR. Material and Method: We retrospectively reviewed 45 patients who underwent mitral valve repair and AVR between September 1990 and April 2002. The average age was 47 years: 28 were men and 17 women. Twelve patients had atrial fibrillation and three had a previous cardiac operation. The mitral valve disease consisted of pure insufficiency (MR) in 34 patients, mitral stenosis (MS) in 3, and mixed lesion in 8. Mitral valve disease was due to rheumatic origin in 24 patients, degenerative in 11, annular dilatation in 8, and ischemia or endocarditis in 2. The functional anatomy of mitral valve was annular dilatation in 31 patients, chordal elongation in 19, leaflet thickening in 19, commissural fusion in 13, chordal fusion in 10, chordal rupture in 6, and so on. Aortic prostheses used included mechanical valve in 32 patients, tissue valve in 12, and pulmonary autograft in one. The techniques of mitral valve repair included annuloplasty in 32 patients and various valvuloplasty of 54 techniques in 29 patients. Total cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross clamp time were 204$\pm$62 minute and 153$\pm$57 minutes, respectively. Result: Early death was in one patient due to low output syndrome (2.2%). After follow up of 57$\pm$37 months, late death was in one patient and the actuarial survival at 10 years was 96$\pm$4%. Recurrent MR developed grade II or III in 11 patients and moderate MS in 3. Three patients required reoperation for valve-related complications. The actuarial freedom from recurrent MR, MS, and reoperation were 64$\pm$11%, 86$\pm$8%, and 89$\pm$7% respectively. Conclusion: Combined mitral valve repair with AVR offers good early and long-term survival, and adequate techniques and selection of indication of mitral valve repair, especially in rheumatic disease, are prerequisites for better long-term results.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 2004

Background: Infective endocarditis shows higher operative morbidity and mortality rates than other cardiac diseases. The vast majority of studies on infective endocarditis have been made on aortic endocarditis, with little attention having been paid to infective endocarditis on the mitral valve. This study attempts to investigate the clinical aspects and operative results of infective endocarditis on the mitral valve. Meterial and Method: The subjects of this study consist of 23 patients who underwent operations for infective endocariditis on the mitral valve from June 1995 to May 2003. Among them, 2 patients suffered from prosthetic valvular endocarditis and the other 21 from native valvular endocarditis. The subjects were evenly distributed age-wise with an average age of 44.8$\pm$15.7 (11∼66) years. Emergency operations were performed on seventeen patients (73.9%) due to large vegetation or instable hemodynamic status. In preoperative examinations, twelve patients exhibited congestive heart failure, four patients renal failure, two patients spleen and renal infarction, and two patients temporary neurological defects, while one patient had a brain abscess. Based on the NYHA functional classification, seven patients were determined to be at Grade II, 9 patients at Grade III, and 6 patients at Grade IV. Vegetations were detected in 20 patients while mitral regurgitation was dominant in 19 patients with 4 patients showing up as mitral stenosis dominant on the preoperative echocardiogram. Blood cultures for causative organisms were performed on all patients, and positive results were obtained from ten patients, with five cases of Streptococcus viridance, two cases of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and one case each of Corynebacteriurn, Haemophillis, and Gernella. Operations were decided according to the AA/AHA guidelines (1988). The mean follow-up period was 27.6 $\pm$23.3 (1 ∼ 97) months. Result: Mitral valve replacements were performed on 43 patients, with mechanical valves being used on 9 patients and tissue valves on the other 4. Several kinds of mitral valve repair or mitral valvuloplasty were carried out on the remaining 10 patients. Associated procedures included six aortic valve replacements, two tricuspid annuloplasty, one modified Maze operation, and one direct closure of a ventricular septal defect. Postoperative complications included two cases of bleeding and one case each of mediastinitis, low cardiac output syndrome, and pneumonia. There were no cases of early deaths, or death within 30 days following the operation. No patient died in the hospital or experienced valve related complications. One patient, however, underwent mitral valvuloplasty 3 months after the operation. Another patient died from intra-cranial hemorrhage in the 31st month after the operation. Therefore, the valve-related death rate was 4.3%, and the valve-related complication rate 8.6% on mid-term follow-up. 1, 3-, and 5-year valve- related event free rates were 90.8%, 79.5%, and 79.5%, respectively, while 1, follow-up. 1, 3-, and 5-year valve- related event free rates were 90.8%, 79.5%, and 79.5%, respectively, while 1, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 100%, 88.8%, and 88.8%, respectively. Conclusion: The findings suggest that a complete removal of infected tissues is essential in the operative treatment of infectious endocarditis of the mitral valve. It is also suggested that when infected tissues are completely removed, neither type of material nor method of operation has a significant effect on the operation result. The postoperative results also suggest the need for a close follow-up observation of the patients suspected of having brain damage, which is caused by preoperative blood contamination or emboli from vegetation, for a possible cerebral vascular injury such as mycotic aneurysm.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.255-261
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• 1999

Background: Atrial fibrillation is one of the most prevalent of all arrhythmias and in up to 79% of the patients with mitral valve disease. This study examined whether the atrial fibrillation that occur in patients with mitral valve operation could be eliminated by a concommitant maze operation without cryoablation. Material and Method: From May 1997 to April 1998, 14 patients with atrial fibrillation associated with mitral valve disease underwent Maze III operation without cryoablation. Preoperatively there were 6 men and 8 women with an average age of 46.2${\pm}$10.7 years. Eleven patients had mitral stenosis, and three had mitral insufficiency. The associated heart diseases were aortic valve disease in 4, tricuspid valve regurgitation in 1 and ASD in 2. Using transthoracic echocardiography, the mean left atrial diameters was 54.7${\pm}$5.3 mm and thrombi were found in the left atrium of 2 patients. Postoperatively the ratio between the peak speed of the early filling wave and that of the atrial contraction wave (A/E ratio) was determined from transmitral flow measurement. Operations were mitral valve replacement in 13 including 4 aortic valve replacements, 1 DeVega annuloplasty and 2 ASD closures. Maze III operation was performed in 1 patient. Result: Five patients (38%) had recurred atrial fibrillation, which was reversed with flecainide or amiodarone at the average time of postoperative 38.8${\pm}$23.5 days. Postoperative complications were postoperative transient junctional rhythm in 6, transient atrial fibrillation in 5, reoperation for bleeding in 3, postpericardiotomy syndrome(1), unilateral vocal cord palsy(1), postoperative psychosis(1), and myocardial infarction(1). Postoperatively A/E ratio was 0.43${\pm}$0.22 and A wave found in 9(64%) patients. 3 to 14 months postoperatively (average follow- up, 8.1 months), all of patients had normal sinus rhythm and 9(64%) patients had left atrial contraction and 11(79%) patients were not on a regimen of antiarrhythmic medication. Conclusion: We conclude that Maze III operation without cryoablation is an effective surgical treatment in atrial fibrillation associated with the mitral valve disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.8
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• pp.536-545
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• 2007

Background: Compared to adult patients, mitral regurgitation in pediatric patients is uncommon and it shows a wide spectrum of morphologic abnormalities. We retrospectively evaluated the midterm results of mitral valve repair in pediatric patients. Material and Method: Between December 1993 and August 2006, mitral valve repair was performed in 35 patients who were aged less than 18 years, The mean age was $5.3{\pm}5.3$ years and the mean body weight was $20,0{\pm}16.3\;kg$. 18 patients had associated cardiac anomalies. The most common pathologic finding was leaflet prolapse (n=17). The most common method of repair was the double orifice technique (n=15). Result: There was no early mortality. Eight patients underwent reoperation (24.2%), and five of them required mitral valve replacement. Among the four ring annuloplasty cases, two have developed mitral stenosis. Four out of the 14 double orifice cases required reoperation. One case of early mortality and one case of late mortality occurred in the reoperation cases. The 5-year survival rate and the freedom from reoperation rate were $93.3{\pm}4.6%$ and $76.1{\pm}8.2%$, respectively. The 5-year freedom from mitral valve replacement rate was $83.6{\pm}6.7%$. There was no significant risk factor for reoperation. Conclusion: The midterm results of mitral valve repair are very acceptable in pediatric patients compared to the adult cases, although the reoperation rate is slightly higher.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.11
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• pp.1031-1035
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• 1999

Background: ATS mechanical valve is a recently introduced pyrolytic carbon bileaflet prosthesis. This report is to evaluate the results of hemodynamic and anticoagulant therapy after ATS valve replacement. Material and Method: From May 1995 to October 1998, 53 patients received 65 ATS prosthesis; 38 Mitral(27-33 mm), 27 Aortic(19-25 mm). 2 CABGs and 5 Tricuspid annuloplasty were taken concomitantly. The follow up period was 769 patient-months(mean 16.2$\pm$10.0), varied from 1 month to 39 months with 92.5% follow up rate. All patients were evaluated with Doppler echocardiography, 7-14 days after operation. Result: NYHA functional class was improved significantly, from 2.6$\pm$0.8 preoperatively to 1.3$\pm$0.4 postoperatively. The average value of peak and mean transvalvular pressure gradients were 25.7$\pm$13.5 mmHg, 12.7$\pm$8.3 mmHg in aortic position. In the mitral position, the average values of peak and mean transvalvular pressure gradient and valve area were 5.9$\pm$2.5 mmHg, 3.1$\pm$0.8 mmHg and 2.9$\pm$0.5 $\textrm{cm}^2$, respectively. In the anticoagulant therapy, mean INR was 2.5$\pm$0.6 in mitral valve replacement and 1.9$\pm$0.5 in aortic valve replacement. There was no anticoagulant related complication. During that period, there were 3 hospital death(5.9%) and 1 late death(1.9%). Conclusion: The early clinical results of the ATS heart valve replacement is quite satisfactory, and low target INR reginmen is safe. And long term follow of hemodynamic characteristics is also necessary.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.207-214
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• 1976

Operations for cardiac valvular disease has been progressed in various ways. Since 1949 when Lord Russel operated mitral stenosis by closed technique at Johns Hopkins Hospital then much progress has been achieved and that nowadays severely diseased cardiac valve has been replaced by prosthetic valve, which is almost ideal in hemodynamic aspect, but still it has many problems such as thromboembolism, destruction of red blood cell, pressure gradient, and disturbance of left ventricular function, so in case of delicate situations, valve replacement should be decided carefully. Besides prosthetic valve, there are some kinds of reconstructive procedures and these have been resulted in better prognosis than prosthetic valve replacement in selected cases. So, authors have reviewed 61 Cases of cardiac patients who have been operated reconstructive valvular surgery by cardiopulmonary bypass, at Yonsei University, from Jan. 1963 to Mar. 1976. Out of 61 cases, 9 patients were replaced by prosthetic valve and rest of the patients were operated upon in various reconstructive procedures such as commissurotomy, valvotomy, valvuloplasty, and annuloplasty. Twenty cases of congenital heart diseases with valvular lesion, which had been operated for valvular lesion were also included in this statistics. Out of 9 cases of prosthetic valvular replacement five cases of prosthetic valvular replacement was done combined with other reconstructive procedures after attempted valvuloplasty. Comparative prognosis of both procedures are somewhat variable by reporters, average 19% of mortality after reconstructive surgery and 38% of mortality after prosthetic valve replacement in long term results. Most common cause of death in postoperative period was low output syndrome in both cases. It seems that good preoperative evaluation and proper reconstructive surgery will afford good prognosis in selected cardiac valvular diseased patient.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.34 no.9
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• pp.724-728
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• 2001

We report a case of an 8 years and 11 month-old male patient who had developed severe tricuspid insufficiency(TI) after correction of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery(ALCAPA). Transthoracic echocardiogram and coronary angiography confirmed ALCAPA, ischemic mitral regurgitation and trivial TI. He underwent direct reimplantation of the left coronary artery to the aortic root by using additional cannulation at the main pulmonary artery for arterial inflow and cardioplegia delivery to the left coronary artery. After the correction of ALCAPA, transesophageal echocardiogram(TEE) revealed good antegrade flow at the aortic implantation site of the left coronary artery and severe TI(Gr III-IV/IV). Cardiopulmonary bypass was reestablished and tricuspid valve was repaired with Kay-type annuloplasty, artificial chordae formation and chordal shortening plasty. The postrepair TEE revealed trivial to mild TI.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.373-378
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• 1999

Background: Minimally invasive technique for various cardiac surgeries has become widely accepted since it has been proven to have distinct advantages for the patients. We describe here the results of our experiences of minimal incision in cardiac surgery. Material and Method: From February 1997 to November 1998, we successfully performed 31 cases of minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Male and female ratio was 17:14, and the patients age ranged from 1 to 75 years. A left parasternal incision was used in 9 patients with single vessel coronary heart disease. A direct coronary bypass grafting was done under the condition of the beating heart without cardiopulmonary bypass support(MIDCAB). Among these, one was a case of a reoperation 1 week after the first operation due to a kinked mammary artery graft. A right parasternal incision was used in one case of a redo mitral valve replacement. Mini-sternotomy was used in the remaining 21 patients. The procedures were mitral valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty in 6 patients, mitral valve replacement 5, double valve replacement 2, aortic valve replacement 1, removal of left atrial myxoma 1, closure of atrial septal defect 2, repair of ventricular septal defect 2, and primary closure of r ght ventricular stab wound 1. The initial 5 cases underwent a T-shaped mini-sternotomy, however, we adopted an arrow-shaped ministernotomy in the remaining cases because it provided better exposure of the aortic root and stability of the sternum after a sternal wiring. Result: The operation time, the cardiopulmonary bypass time, the aorta cross-clamping time, the mechanical ventilation time, the amount of chest tube drainage until POD#1, the chest tube indwelling time, and the duration of intensive care unit staying were in an acceptable range. There were two surgical mortalities. One was due to a rupture of the aorta cannulation site after double valve replacement on POD#1 in the mini-sternotomy case, and the other was due to a sudden ventricular arrhythmia after MIDCAB on POD#2 in the parasternal incision case. Postoperative complications were observed in 2 cases in which a cerebral embolism developed on POD#2 after a mini-sternotomy in mitral valve replacement and wound hematoma developed after a right parasternal incision in a single coronary bypass grafting. Neither mortality nor complication was directly related to the incision technique itself. Conclusion: Minimally invasive surgery using parasternal or mini-sternotomy incision can be used in cardiac surgeries since it is as safe as the standard full sternotomy incisions.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.423-429
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• 2008

Background: The interest in robotic cardiac surgery has recently grown but there has not been much clinical research reported on this. The aim of this study is to examine our initial experience, since August 2007, with robotic cardiac surgery using the da $Vince^{TM}$ surgical system and to evaluate the feasibility and safety of it. Material and Method: Between August and December 2007, a total of 20 patients underwent robotic cardiac surgery using the da Vinci surgical system. For mitral valve repair (n=11), tricuspid valve repair (n=1), and ASD repair (n=1), cannulation, antegrade cardioplegia and transthoracic aortic cross-clamping were conducted for the right femoral vessels and the right internal jugular vein. For minimally invasive direct CABG (MIDCAB) (n=7), the internal thoracic artery (ITA) was harvested with the da Vinci surgical system. Result: The mean age of the patients was 50.1 (range: $26{\sim}78$) years. Three concomitant Maze procedures and one tricuspid annuloplasty were combined with mitral valve repair. The mean cardiopulmonary bypass time was $208.0{\pm}61.3$ minutes and the aortic cross clamp time was $158.8{\pm}40.6$ minutes. No patients showed more than mild mitral regurgitation after repair and the median hospital stay was 4 days. The robotic-harvested ITA was used for either left ITA (n=6) or bilateral ITA (n=1). The mean harvest time was $43.2{\pm}12.0$ minutes. The harvested ITA showed good flow and it was anastomosed under direct vision after left anterolateral thoracotomy. The patency of all the grafts was 100% (18/18) in MIDCAB. Conclusion: Robotic cardiac surgery using the da Vinci surgical system was variously adapted to areas such as mitral and tricuspid valve repair, ASD repair and ITA harvest for MIDCAB. The early results of the robotic cardiac surgery showed its safety and feasibility. With this primary report, we anticipate that clinical applications and further studies on robotic cardiac surgery using the da Vinci surgical system will be actively conducted in Korea.