• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.617-621
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• 1990

A heart supplies blood of about 15, 000 liters to each human organ in a day. A normal function of heart valves is necessary to accomplish these enormous work of heart. The disease of heart valve develops to a narrowness of a closure, resulting in an abnormal circulation of blood. In an attempt to eliminate the affliction of heart valves, the operative method to replace with artificial heart valves has developed and saved numerous patients over past 30 years. This replacement operation has been performed since early 1960`s in Korea, but all the artificial heart valves used are imported from abroad with very high costs until recent years. New artificial heart valves have been developed in Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology since early 1980`s. The first developed valve was designed with a free-floating pyrolytic carbon disk that is suspended in a titanium cage. The design of the valve was tested in vitro, and in animals in 1987. The results from this study was that the eccentrically placed struts creates a major and minor orifice when the disc opens and stagnation of flow in the area of the minor orifice has led to valve thrombosis. In this work, the design of the valve was changed from a single - leaflet valve to double - leaflet one in order to resolve the problems observed in the first - year tests. Morphological and hemodynamic studies were made for the newly designed valves through the in vitro and in vivo tests. The design and partial materials of the artificial heart valve was improved comparing with first - year`s model. The disc in the valve was modified from single - leaflet to bi - leaflet, and the material of the cage was changed from titanium metal to silicon - alloyed pyrolytic carbon. A test was made for the valve in order to examine its mechanical performance and stability. Morphological and hemodynamic studies were made for the valve that had been implanted in tricuspid position of mongrel dogs. All the test animals were observed just before the deaths. A new artificial heart valve was designed and fabricated in order to resolve the problems observed in the old model. The new valve was verified to have good stability and high resistance to wear through the performance tests. The hemodynamic properties of the valve after implantation were also estimated to be good in animal tests. Therefore, the results suggest that the newly designed valve in this work has a good quality in view of the biocompatibility. However, valve thrombosis on valve leaflets and annulus were found. This morphological findings were in accordance with results of surface polishing status studies, indicating that a technique of fine polishing of the surface is necessary to develop a valve with higher quality and performance.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1025-1035
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• 1989

Since we first performed open heart surgery on December 30, 1986, 126 cases were operated on up to August 31, 1989. Among the 126 cases, 65 cases were congenital heart disease of which 63 were acyanotic disease, and 61 cases were acquired heart disease, most of which were valvular heart disease. The age distribution of congenital heart disease was from 1 years 2 months to 48 years, and males had a slightly higher incidence. The age of acquired heart disease was from a minimum of 15 years to a maximum of 68 years, and the male to female ratio was 1;1.5. Midsternotomy was performed in all cases, and the aortic cannula was inserted through ascending aorta and the venous cannula inserted into the SVC and IVC through the right atrium. Vent was inserted through the right superior pulmonary vein. Cardioplegia solution was used in all cases; it was composed of sodium bicarbonate 3.5 ampule, KCL 14 mEq, 2% lidocaine 2.5 ml, 20 % albumin 50 ml and heparin 1000 units mixed to 950 ml with Hartman solution, and was made to 4oC and infused 10 ml per Kg every 20 minutes. The congenital heart disease had a variety of VSD in 32 cases, ASD 23 cases, PS 6 cases, PDA 2 cases, and one case each of Ebsteins anomaly and tricuspid atresia. The operations performed for acquired heart disease were 4 cases of OMC, 33 cases of MVR, and 5 cases of AVR, and 1 case of AVR with CABG. DVR was perfomed in 13 cases, and triple valve replacement was done in 1 case. Other than these, excision of LA myxoma was 2 cases, and repair of traumatic VSD and removal of a pulmonary embolism were one case each. The surgical mortality was 5 cases[4%], all of which occurred in valve replacement cases. Follow-up study revealed 2 late deaths. One died after a traffic accident and one died due to sepsis after he had received a gastrectomy for ulcer bleeding. The remaining patients were in good condition.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.233-241
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• 1998

To define the risk factors affecting the early major morbidity and mortality after multiple- valve operations, the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative informations were retrospectively collected on 124 consecutive patients undergoing a multiple-valve operation between October 1985 and July 1996 at the department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery of Pusan Paik Hospital. The study population consists of 53 men and 71 women whose mean age was 37.9$\pm$11.5(mean$\pm$SD) years. Using the New York Heart Association(NYHA) classification, 41 patients(33.1%) were in functional class II, 60(48.4%) in class III, and 20(16.1%) in class IV preoperatively. Seven patients(5.6%) had undergone previous cardiac operations. Atrial fibrillations were present in 76 patients(61.3%), a history of cerebral embolism in 5(4.0%), and left atrial thrombus in 13(10.5%). The overall early mortality rate and postoperative morbidity was 8.1% and 21.8% respectively. Among the 124 cases of multiple-valve operation, there were 57(46.0%) of combined mitral valve replacement(MVR) and aortic valve replacement(AVR), 48(38.7%) of combined MVR and tricuspid annuloplasty(TVA), 12(9.7%) of combined MVR, AVR and TVA, 3(2.4%) of combined MVR and aortic valvuloplasty, 2(1.6%) of combined MVR and tricuspid valve replacement, and others. The patients were classified according to the postoperative outcomes; Group A(27 cases) included the patients who had early death or major morbidity such as low cardiac output syndrome, mediastinitis, cardiac rupture, ventricular arrhythmia, sepsis, and others; Group B(97 cases) included the patients who had the good postoperative outcomes. The patients were also classified into group of early death and survivor. In comparison of group A and group B, there were significant differences in aortic cross-clamping time(ACT, group A:153.4$\pm$42.4 minutes, group B:134.0$\pm$43.7 minutes, p=0.042), total bypass time(TBT, group A:187.4$\pm$65.5 minutes, group B:158.1$\pm$50.6 minutes, p=0.038), and NYHA functional class(I:33.3%, II:9.7%, III:20%, IV:50%, p=0.004). In comparison of early death(n=10) and survivor(n=114), there were significant differences in age(early death:45.2$\pm$8.7 years, survivor:37.2$\pm$11.6 years, p=0.036), sex(female:12.7%, male:1.9%, p=0.043), ACT(early death:167.1$\pm$38.4 minutes, survivor:135.7$\pm$43.7 minutes, p=0.030), and NYHA functional class(I:0%, II:4.9%, III:1.7%, IV:35%, p=0.001). In conclusion, the early major morbidity and mortality were influenced by the preoperative clinical status and therefore the earlier surgical intervention should be recommended whenever possible. Also, improved methods of myocardial protection and operative techniques may reduce the risk in patients with multiple-valve operation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.84 no.6
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• pp.1324-1336
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• 2023

Purpose This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of cardiac CT and transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) depending on the degree of valvular calcification and bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) subtype. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 266 consecutive patients (106 with BAV and 160 with tricuspid aortic valve) who underwent cardiac CT and TTE before aortic valve replacement. Cardiac CT was used to evaluate the morphology of the aortic valve, and a calcium scoring scan was used to quantify valve calcium. The aortic valves were classified into fused and two-sinus types. The diagnostic accuracy of cardiac CT and TTE was calculated using a reference standard for intraoperative inspection. Results CT demonstrated significantly higher sensitivity, negative predictive value, and accuracy than TTE in detecting BAV (p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.003, respectively). The TTE sensitivity tended to decrease as valvular calcification increased. The error rate of TTE for CT was 10.9% for the twosinus type of BAV and 28.3% for the fused type (p = 0.044). Conclusion Cardiac CT had a higher diagnostic performance in detecting BAV than TTE and may help diagnose BAV, particularly in patients with severe valvular calcification.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.77-81
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• 1980

We present one case of 26-year-old male having saddle block combined with mitral valvular disease [NYHA Class IV] with auricular fibrillation. The most common cause of emboli is atrial fibrillation. The clinical manifestations of saddle emboli are relatively slow due to development of collateral circulation and large size of lumen of the aorta. The 5month duration of saddle emboli in this case led to severe atrophic changes, coldness, peripheral cyanosis on the both lower extremities, and flexion deformity on the knee and ankle joint of the left lower extremity. We planned staged operation for the saddle block and for mitral stenoinsufficiency and tricuspid insufficiency, because of poor general condition of the patient. The thromboembolectomy of aortic bifurcation was performed through the transabdominal approach without trial of Fogarthy catheter embolectomy, because of expectation of the secondary inflammatory changes of the vessel wall and thrombi which was 3 cm X 1 cm X 0.5 cm in size with irregular surfaced solid in consistency. 1 month later, after thromboembolectomy, mitral valve replacement and tricuspid annuloplasty were performed, with successful early operative result. During operation organized thrombi [1 cm X 0.5 cm] in the left auricle was removed. We wonder if simple management using Fogarthy catheter might be possible to remove the thromboemboli instead of thromboembolectomy by aortotomy in this case.

• 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.35 no.3
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• pp.209-216
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• 2002

Background: Valvular heart disease is still the most common health problem in Korea. By the end of the year 1999, there has been 94,586 cases of open heart surgery since the first case in 1958. Among them, 36,247 cases were acquired heart diseases and 20,704 of those had valvular heart disease. But there was no database system and every surgeon and physician had great difficulties in analysing and utilizing those tremendous medical resources. Therefore, we developed a valve registry database program and utilize it for risk factor analysis and so on. Material and Method: Personal computer-based multiuser database program was created using Microsoft AccessTM. That consisted of relational database structure with fine-tuned compact field variables and server-client architecture. Simple graphic user interface showed easy-to-use accessability and comprehensibility. User-oriented modular structure enabled easier modification through native AccessTM functions. Infinite application of query function aided users to extract, summarize, analyse and report the study result promptly. Result: About three-thousand cases of valve replacement procedure were performed in our hospital from 1968 to 1999. Total number of prosthesis replaced was 3,700. The numbers of cases for mitral, aortic and tricuspid valve replacement were 1600, 584, 76, respectively. Among them, 700 patients received prosthesis in more than two positions. Bioprosthesis or mechanical prosthesis were used in 1,280 and 1,500 patients respectively Redo valve replacements were performed in 460 patients totally and 40 patients annually Conclusion: Database program for registry of valvular heart disease was successfully developed and used in personal computer-based multiuser environment. This revealed promising results and perspectives in database management and utilization system.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.342-347
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• 1978

A 8 year old male was admitted to the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Korea University Hospital on June 22, 1978. The chief complaints were cyanosis and exertional dyspnea since at birth. EKG shows BVH and dextrocardia, phonocardiogram revealed the accentuation of second heart sound in aortic area. Echocardiogram from the left ventricle to the base of the heart, there is a discontinuity between the ventricular septum and the anterior aortic margin with a large aortic root & aortic overriding. His cardiac catheterization data and cardiac angiogram shows situs inversus totalis, dextrocardia, right aortic arch, large ventricular septal defect etc., and finally diagnosed Truncus Arteriosus. Edwards type IV with retrograde aortogram and selective bronchial angiogram. This is the first operative case reported as Rastelli operation for Truncus Arteriosus type IV in the literatures in Korea. Authors have experienced I case of Truncus Arteriosus, Edward type IV and Rastelli operation with Dacron Arterial Conduit Graft under cardiopulmonary bypass on July 3, 1978. The procedures were as follows; 2] Cardiopulmonary bypass: Origin of bronchial arteries excised from descending aorta bilaterally; defects in aorta closed. 2] Horizontal incision made high in right ventricle. 2] Ventricular septal defect [Kirklin type I+II] closed with Teflon patch. 4] Bifurcated dacron arterial graft with pericardial monocusp sutured to the bilateral pulmonary arteries. [Diameter 9 mm: Length 7 cm]. 5] Proximal end of the conduit graft anastomosed to right ventricle. [Diameter 19 mm: Length 5 cm]..Total perfusion time was 220 min. The result of operation was poor due to anastomotic leakage and increased pulmonary vascular resistance resulting acute right heart failure. The patient was died on the operation table. Literatures were briefly reviewed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.780-783
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• 2003

Pacemaker lead-related infective endocarditis is an uncommon, but serious complication. We report a case of a 45-year-old man who had symptom of intermittent high fever and rupture of sinus Valsalva that developed after a redo aortic valve replacement and transvenous permanent pacemaker implantation. Positive blood cultures of streptococcus viridans and transesophageal echocardiography showing a large mobile vegetation on pacemaker lead and tricuspid valve lead to the diagnosis of pacemaker lead-related infective endocarditis. Initial antibiotic therapy followed by surgical extraction of the pacemaker lead and wide debridement of infective tissues including multiple vegetations was required. Postoperative antibiotic therapy was continued for 4 weeks. The postoperative course has been uneventful. The patient is totally asymptomatic and is doing well up to now.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.346-352
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• 1998

Rheumatic valvulitis produces at least three distinct pathologic changes, the degree varying widely among the patients: fusion of the valve leaflets at the commissures; fusion and shortening of chordae tendinae: and fibrosis of the leaflets with subsequent stiffening, contraction and calcification. The most extensive changes usually are seen in patients with recurrent attacks of rheumatic fever. We studied on outcome of the surgical treatments of rheumatic valvular diseases that have been experienced for 12 years since 1982 at Pusan National University Hospital. The diagnoses were made by rheumatic fever history, echocardiographic findings, gross operative findings and microscopic findings. Total 502 patients were performed surgery for valvular heart diseases and 440 patients of rheumatic origin have bene analysed. There were more female than male patients as 1.3:1, and the mean age was 37.8 years old. 96.3% of them affected to the mitral valve, 19.8% to aortic valve, 16.3% affected to the tricuspid valve. Most of them underwent valve replacement, and valve repair was done in 3.9% of patients. There were 36 hospital deaths(8.2%) mainly from low cardiac output syndrome, and 15 late deaths equally due to embolism and hemorrhage. Follow up was 90.1% completed(2890 patient- year). Linealized rates of late complication events are follows : thromboembolism 1.3% per patient year; anticoagulant related hemorrhage 0.8% per patient year. Overall actuarial survival including hospital mortality was 92.7＋/-2.9% in 1 year, 88.0＋/-4.5% in 5 year, 82.3＋/-7.7% in 10 year. We conclude that the rheumatic disease is still the most frequent and the most important cause of heart valve disease. So more intensive study is needed in spite of the abrupt decreasing rate of rheumatic fever in U.S.A. and other industrial country.