• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.419-421
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• 2021

Fracture of prosthetic valve leaflets in the absence of traumatic injury is very rare. Leaflet fracture can cause acute pulmonary edema and cardiogenic shock and is potentially life-threatening, requiring emergency surgery. Thus, a leaflet fracture must be diagnosed quickly and accurately. We present the case of a 46-year-old man with CarboMedics prosthetic aortic and mitral valve replacements implanted 24 years previously. The patient presented at our emergency department with abrupt dyspnea and fever. We diagnosed severe mitral valve regurgitation with anterior leaflet fracture. The patient underwent venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and delayed mitral valve replacement. The foreign body was removed step by step because the diagnosis was missed. Two pieces of broken leaflets were found in the left common iliac artery and left external iliac artery. The patient was treated successfully and remains asymptomatic 1 year following surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.35 no.11
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• pp.822-825
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• 2002

The paravalvular leak after redo mitral prosthetic valve replacement is rare but serious complication when it does happen. This condition should be corrected surgically to increase life span and improve symptoms. But simple closure or patch closure of paravalvular leak are not effective in cases of weak annulus or broad defect. We report 3 cases of trido mitral valve replacement using mechanical valve with its sewing ring expanded by a collar of Dacron sheet. The prosthetic sewing ring is anchored on the weak mitral annulus with multiple interrupted sutures, while the Dacron collar is contineuously sutured to the left atrial wall for blood tight sealing. All of the three cases showed event free postoperative course.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.301-309
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• 1983

Twenty-three patients with aneurysm were operated between Jan. 1956 to July 1983 at the Department of Thoracic surgery, Seoul National University Hospital. There were 18 males and 5 females in this series. The age ranged from 14 to 68 years with the mean age of 41 years. The etiology of aortic aneurysms was atherosclerosis in 10, trauma in 2, annuloaortic ectasia in 4, syphilis in 1, and unknown etiology in six cases. Among the 4 patients with ascending aortic aneurysm, aortic valve replacement with aneurysmorrhaphy in three patients and Bentall operation in one patient were performed successfully. One patient with entire aortic arch aneurysm was received Dacron graft replacement with anastomosis of brachiocephalic arteries separately under cardiopulmonary bypass. There was no complication. Among 6 patients involving the descending thoracic aorta, three patients were managed by prosthetic bypass graft and aneurysm resection, and another three patients were also managed by prosthetic graft replacement. There were three hospital deaths. There were two thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm. One patient in shock state due to preoperative rupture died from cardiac arrest during operative procedure. In another patient who had extensive involvement from the midportion of descending thoracic aorta to the terminal abdominal aorta, the aneurysm was successfully repaired with Dacron graft. In this instance celiac axis, superior and inferior mesenteric arteries and right renal artery were anastomosed separately. Eight of the 10 abdominal aortic aneurysms was replaced with prosthetic graft. One saccular aneurysm was treated by resection and primary closure. In another patient, cardiac arrest occurred during operation before definitive procedure. There was one another hospital death in the patient with preoperative rupture.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1556-1562
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• 1992

Forty two consecutive patients who had had valve replacement with St. Jude Medical prosthesis were studied on a view point of intravascular hemolysis. Patients were consisted of 14 mitral valve replacement, and 7 aortic valve replacement, and 21 double, mitral and aortic, valve replacement. Serum LDH, indirect bilirubin, GOT, hemoglobin levels and ret-iculocyte count were pursued in postopeative 1st day, 3rd day, 7th day, 14th day and 21th day. Postoperatively, all patients were not detected paravalvular leakage on the ech-ocardiographical study. The patients with double valve replacement revealed higher levels of LDH on postopeative 14th day[P<0 05] than those with single valve replacement. Among the patients with single valve replacement, the patients with aortic valve replacement revealed slightly higher levels of entire postopeative data, but considered insignificant. There was correlation between the severity of hemolysis and the size of replaced aortic valve. In the postoperative LDH levels, the patients with small sized-aortic valve[less than 21mm in diameter] replacement revealed higher levels of postoperative 3rd day, 7th day and 14th day than those with large size[more than 23mm in diameter]. The patients with high level LDH of greater than 800 WU /L on postoperative 7th day were 61.9%[26 of 42]. The high LDH frequency of DVR was 71.4%[15 of 21], MVR 50.0%[7 of 14] and AVR, 57.1%[4 of 7]. The level of LDH declined gradualiy thereafter through postoperative 3 weeks. In conclusion, intravascular hemolysis after prosthetic valve replacement was dependent on position of valve replacement and size of valve. And this study supports the conventional valve selection and usage in our hospital. The patients with subclinical hemolysis after valve replacement should be placed on a close observation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.208-211
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• 2013

A 51-year-old male was admitted to the hospital with complaints of fever and hemoptysis. After evaluation of the fever focus, he was diagnosed with pulmonary valve infective endocarditis. Thus pulmonary valve replacement and antibiotics therapy were performed and discharged. He was brought to the emergency unit presenting with a high fever (> $39^{\circ}C$) and general weakness 6 months after the initial operation. The echocardiography revealed prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis. Therefore, redo-pulmonary valve replacement using valved conduit was performed in the Rastelli fashion because of the risk of pulmonary arterial wall injury and recurrent endocarditis from the remnant inflammatory tissue. We report here on the successful surgical treatment of prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis with an alternative surgical method.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.817-821
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• 1995

The CarboMedics Medical valve has become our mechanical valvular prosthesis of choice because of favorable hemodynamic results that associated with marked clinical improvement and low incidence of thromboembolism after it,s uses. The data for this study was collected from August 1988 to July 1993,five years period. There were total of 57 patients[female 40,male 17 in this series with 4 isolated aortic valve,26 isolated mitral valve,11 double valve and a triple valve replacement. The mean follow up time was 32 months. Postoperatively,58% of cases were in New York Heart Association[NYHA functional class I,and mild and moderate symptoms[NYHA class II were present in 36% and there were very few patients remaining in higher functional classes. In postoperative echocardiographic study, showed marked improved cardiac function. The overall early mortality was 3.5% and the late mortality was one case after triple valve replacement due to sudden death. The causes of early death were attributed to early prosthetic valve endocarditis and heart failure.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 1999

Background: Mitral valve replacement with chordal preservation in patients with mitral regurgitation has been proved to be beneficial for left ventricular function and for reduction of postoperative complication. However, in patients with mitral stenosis, the effectiveness of the technique is controversial. It is not easy to insert prosthetic valve without left ventricular outflow tract obstruction and prosthetic valve leaflet motion hinderance. Material and Method : Five patients with mitral stenosis and seven patients with mitral stenoinsufficiency underwent mitral valve replacement with preservation of mitral subvalvular apparatus. Thickened and calcified leaflets are made thin by peeling off the thickened and calcified part. Commissurotomy was done and anterior leaflet was incised 2 mm apart from the annulus and then divided into two segments. Anterolateral and posteromedial segments including strut chordae, were reattached to mitral commissural area, respectively. Result: There was no evidence of prosthetic valve dysfunction, paravalvular leakage, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction, complications and operative or late deaths. Conclusion: We conclude that mitral vlave replacement with chordal preservation was safe and effective technique for the patients with mitral stenotic disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.355-360
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• 1979

Mitral and aortic valve replacement with tricuspid annuloplasty was undertaken in 5 patients out of 38 valvular surgery between the period from Jan. 1977 to May 1979 in the Dept. of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery in Korea University Hospital. All were male patients with age ranging from 18 to 42 years, and preoperative evaluation revealed one case in Class IV, and four cases in Class III according to the classification of NYHA. Preoperative diagnosis was confirmed by routine cardiac study including retrograde aorto- and left ventriculography, and there were two cases with MSi+ASi+Ti, two cases with MSi+Ai+Ti, and one case with Mi+Ai+Ti. Double valve replacement was performed under the hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass with total pump time of 247 min. in average ranging from 206 min. to 268 min. During aortic valve replacement, left coronary perfusion was done in the first two cases, and cardiac arrest with cardioplegic solution proposed by Bretschneider was applied in the remained three cases. Starr-Edwards, Bjork-Shiley prosthetic valves and Carpentier-Edwards tissue valve were replaced in the aortic area, and Carpentier-Edwards and Angell-Shiley tissue valves were replaced in the mitral area with each individual combination [three prosthetic and two tissue valves in the aortic, and five tissue valves in the mitral area respectively]. Postoperative recovery was uneventful in all cases except one case with hemopericardium, which was managed with pericardiectomy on the postoperative 10th day in good result. Follow-up after double valve replacement of the all five cases for the period from 6 months to 33 months revealed satisfactory adaptation in social activity and occupation with cardiac function of Class I according to the classification of NYHA In all five cases.

• 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.18 no.3
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• pp.446-455
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• 1985

A total and consecutive 156 patients have undergone cardiac valve surgery including 13 closed mitral commissurotomy, 13 open mitral commissurotomy, one mitral annuloplasty, 75 mitral valve replacement, one aortic annuloplasty, 24 aortic valve replacement, 3 tricuspid valve replacement, 25 double valve replacement and one triple valve replacement. 155 prosthetic valves were replaced in a period between September 1976 and August 1985. There were 68 males and 88 females with age range from 8 to 69 yrs [mean 36.5 yr]. Out of replaced valves, 61 was tissue valve including 54 Carpentier-Edwards, and 4 was mechanical valves including 74 St. Jude Medical, and the position replaced was 101 valves for mitral, 46 for aortic and 8 for tricuspid. Single valve replacement in 102 cases, double valve replacement in 25 cases [17 for AVR+MVR, and 8 for MVR+TVR], and only one case was noted in the triple valve replacement. Early mortality within 30 days after operation was noted in 11 cases [7%]; 7 after MVR, 2 after DVR, and each one after open mitral commissurotomy and mitral annuloplasty. Cause of death was valve thrombus, cerebral air embolism, low output syndrome, uncontrollable arrhythmia, parapneumonic sepsis, acute cardiac tamponade and left atrial rupture. 7 late deaths were noted during the follow-up period from 1 to 104 months [average 48 month]; three due to valve and left atrial thrombus formation, two due to CVA from overdose of warfarin, and each one due to congestive heart failure and chronic constrictive pericarditis, Anticoagulants after prosthetic valve replacement were maintained with warfarin, dipyridamole and aspirin to the level of around 50% of normal prothrombin time in 79 cases, and Ticlopidine with aspirin in 47 cases to compare the result of each group. There were 11 major thromboembolic episodes including 3 deaths in the warfarin group. Two cases of CVA due to overdose of warfarin was noted in the warfarin group. In the ticlopidine group, there was only one left atrial thrombus confirmed at the time of autopsy. Among the survived 138 cases, nearly all cases[136 cases] were included in NYHA functional class I and II during the follow-up period. In conclusion, surgical treatment of the cardiac valve disease in 156 clinical cases revealed excellent result with acceptable operative risk and late mortality. Prevention of thrombus formation with anti-platelet aggregator Ticlopidine has better result than warfarin group presently with no specific side effect such as bleeding or gastrointestinal trouble.