• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.967-972
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• 1991

Between Feb. 1982 and July 1990, 173 patients [male: 89, female: 84] Who underwent heart valve replacement for acquired valvular heart disease on the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, were reviewed for return to work after heart valve replacement. The replaced valve were mitral [128, 74.0%], aortic[10, 5.8%], mitral & aortic[35, 20.2%]. Two tricuspid valve replacement were excluded. Several important factors influencing the return to work were age, the employment status before surgery, the number of replaced valve, the pre - op NYHA functional class and cardiac function [ejection fraction]. These factors were closely related to the optimal time of heart valve replacement. It can be concluded that the rate of return to work and the quality of life would be improved if valve replacement were performed at an earlier stage of valvular heart disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.659-666
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• 1990

We evaluated 68 patients with mitral valve disease who underwent mitral valve replacement from April, 1986, to December, 1988. Among them 20 patients showed increased systolic pulmonary arterial pressure greater than 60 mmHg and postoperative hemodynamic data were obtained in 19 patients average 13 months after mitral valve replacement. The results were as followings. 1. Average pulmonary systolic pressure decreased from 84.8$\pm$4.5 preoperatively to 33. 0$\pm$1.9mmHg postoperatively[P<0.001]. 2. Average pulmonary vascular resistance index decreased from 1425$\pm$148 preoperatively to 287+35.8 dyne * sec * cm2 * m postoperatively[P<0.001]. 3. Average cardiac index rose from 1.927$\pm$0.169 preoperatively to 2.625$\pm$0.159 L/min/m2 postoperatively [P <0.005]. This study shows that pulmonary hypertension and the increased pulmonary vascular resistance index due to mitral valve disease can regress significantly after mitral valve replacement.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.383-390
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• 1985

108 cases of open heart surgery were done at our department in 1984. There were 58 male and 50 female patients ranging in age from 20 months to 52 years. 75 cases were congenital heart disease, and 33 cases were acquired heart disease. There were 75 congenital heart anomalies with 5 operative deaths [6.7%], consisting of 62 acyanotic cases with 2 deaths [3.2%] and 13 cases of cyanotic cases with 3 deaths [23.1]. In 33 patients of acquired valvular disease, 29 valves were implanted; 20 mitral valve replacement with 2 death [10%], 2 aortic valve replacement with 1 death [50%], 2 double valve replacement [MVR+AVR] and 2 open mitral commissurotomy plus aortic valve replacement with no death. Postoperative, Warfarin sodium was medicated with checking prothrombin time. Finally, the operative mortality was 9.2% in congenital anomaly, and 9.1% in acquired heart disease, overall mortality rate was 9.3%.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.951-959
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• 1989

Between September, 1972 and September, 1989, total 359 patients were operated for acquired heart disease at Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Hanyang University Hospital. A consecutive series of 293 prosthetic valve replacement was also performed during this period. The results were summarized as follows; 1. There were 141 men and 218 women, whose ages ranged from 6 to 64 years, [mean 35.5 years] 2. Out of 293 cases, mitral valve replacement was 182 cases, aortic valve replacement was 39 cases and double valve replacement was70 cases. 3. Early post-operative death was 30 cases [Mortality; 8.4 %] and late death was 9 cases in the survivors. 4. Re-operation was 30 cases and operative mortality was 10%. 5. Mean post-operative interval was 76 months. [Ranged from 216 months to 2 months] 6. Among re-operation cases, primary prosthetic valve failure was 16 cases and paravalvular leakage was 2 cases. 7. Since January 1988, 79 cases of prosthetic valve replacement were performed and then 1 case was expired. [Mortality; 1.2 %]

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.346-355
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• 1984

77 cases of Aortic Valve Replacement, which were composed of 64 rheumatic valvular heart disease and 13 combined congenital heart disease, were operated at Seoul National University Hospital for Aortic valvular disease during the period from June 1968 to December 1983. Among these 64 rheumatic aortic valvular heart disease cases, 8 patients were expired during and immediate after operation and overall mortality rate was 12.5%. For more precise remarks, these patients were divided into two periodic groups, 1st period [from 1968 to 1976] and 2nd [from 1977 to 1983] when annual open heart surgery were over 100 cases, and in 1st period three of four patients were died and in 2nd period five of sixty patients were died and its mortality rate was 8.3%. There were 12 cases of postoperative complication, which were 3 cases of remaining other valvular heart disease required MVR, 2 paravalvular leaks [one of them got Redo AVR], 4 thromboembolism or problem of anticoagulant therapy, 2 late death due to SBE with replaced valve failure and one functional AS with small sized valve. Operative death was affected by pump-time and aortic cross-clamping time, heart size, Ejection Fraction, LVEDP and symptom duration, and other many factors may influence the survival rate. Improved operative technique and myocardial protection and meticulous evaluation of the preoperative patient status will make the AVR safer.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.858-861
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• 2003

The main cause of ischemic heart disease combined with aortic valve disease is the systemic atherosclerotic process. Coronary artery embolism by a particle from the calcified aortic valvular tissue is very rare. A 73-year-old female patient was admitted due to chest tightness of recent onset. Two dimensional echocardiogram showed severe calcific aortic valve stenosis. Preoperative coronary angiogram exhibited a stenotic lesion at the distal right coronary artery, which seemed to be embolic in origin. The coronary embolus was removed through the coronary arteriotomy and then the arteriotomy site was repaired by onlay patch angioplasty technique. Aortic valve was replaced by a bioprosthetic valve. The embolus was reported as a fibrocalcified particle of diseased valve.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.996-1000
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• 1989

Open heart surgery begun at 1959 in Korea. From that time to 1979, the surgery was performed below 100 cases in a year. However,that was performed above, 1,000 cases in a year from 1981. During the recent three years, i.e., 1985, 1986, and 1987, the annual operative cases were 3614,4503, and 4906, and then the mortality rates were progressively decreased to 6.2%, 5.3 %, and 5.0 %. In these time, overall mortality rate above 1 year old was 5.0 % versus that below 1 year old 17.9 9o in congenital heart diseases. These results are statistically different between two groups. Of the valvular heart disease cases, which occupied 97 % of total acquired heart disease, individual incidence was in mitral 68 %, and aortic 28%. The operative method was mainly valve replacement. Operative mortality for valve surgery in total was 4.4 %. Until 1985, bioprosthetic valve was frequently implanted but mechanical valve has been done more frequently in these days. Coronary artery bypass graft was large portion [67 * 75 %] of open heart surgery in western, but was below 1 % in Korea. However our diet patterns have been changed. Therefore we think the incidence of coronary artery disease will be increased. So we will be familiar to this field.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.315-326
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• 1977

From 1958 to October 1977, 294 cases of acquired heart disease were operated. There were 68 cases of pericardium, 3 trauma, 2 foreign body, one cardiac thrombus, 3 atrial myxoma, 2 left atrial and 1 right atrial, 2 Budd-Chiari syndrome, and 214 valvular heart disease. Out of 214 cases of valve operation 73 valves were replaced in 64 patients. Male to female ratio was 1.46: 1. The youngest age was 14 years in male and 18 in female. The oldest was 54 years in male and 52 in female. Fifty-five cases of single valve were replaced, consisting of 47 mitral and 8 aortic valves. There were 9 double valve replacement cases which consist of 7 mitral and aortic and 2 mitral .and tricuspid valves. Six varieties of prosthetic valves, 3 ball and 3 disc types and 3 kinds of xenograft tissue valves were utilized. Beall, BjSrk-Shiley and Starr-Edwards prosthetic valves and Hancock valves were used mainly. For single valve 34. 5% and for double valve replacement 44% mortality were noted. There were 23 operative deaths out of 64 patients, over all mortality rate of 36.9%. Mortality for mitral valve replacement was 29.5%. But in recent 12 consecutive cases one death occurred, showing 8.3% mortality. In earlier days thrombocyte anti-adhesive drug dipyramidole-persantin-aspirin and/or SP 54 were adminstered. But in recent cases after heparinization, coumadin and Persantin were prescribed routinely.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.9
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• pp.822-828
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• 1995

This paper reports 15 native valve endocarditis cases had surgical operation in the past 10 years at the department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Chonbuk National University Hospital. In this study, 10 cases out of 15 were in class I or II by the New York Heart Association functional classification. None of the cases had a history of taking addictive drugs. Five cases were congenital heart disease, three cases were rheumatic heart disease and two cases were degenerative heart disease. Thus 10 cases had the underlying disease. All cases had antibiotics treatment for 3 to 6 weeks before operation. In the culture test, only four cases were positive in the blood culture and one case was positive in the excised valve culture. Organisms on blood and valve culture were Streptococcus epidermis, Streptococcus viridans, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. In the 10 cases without ventricular septal defect, the aortic valve was involved in four, mitral in four, both in two and involved valves in the 5 cases with ventricular septal defect were tricuspid in three, pulmonic in two. Eight cases had operation because they showed moderate congestive heart failure due to valvular insufficiency and vegetation with or without embolism. Seven cases had operation because they showed persistent or progressive congestive heart failure and/or uncontrolled infection. Five cases with ventricular septal defect underwent the closure of ventricular septal defect, vegetectomy and leaflet excision of the affected valves without valve replacement. In the cases without ventricular septal defect, the affected valves were replaced with St. Jude mechanical prosthesis. Postoperative complications were recurrent endocarditis in two, embolism in one, allergic vasculitis in two, spleen rupture in one and postpericardiotomy syndrome in one. At the first postoperative day, one case died of cerebral embolism. At the 11th postoperative month, one case died of recurrent endocarditis and paravalvular leakage in spite of a couple of aortic valve replacement. In the survived cases[13 cases in this study , all cases but one became class I or II by the New York Heart Association functional classification.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.70-81
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• 1988

From January 1962 to March 1987, 97 patients underwent operation for mitral valve disease. Of these patients, 61 [62.9%] required mitral valve replacement. Thirty-six patients [37.1%] had mitral valve repair. The mean age was 26.9*11.6 years [range 5 months to 48 years]. There were 32 [88.9%] cases of rheumatic valve disease, 4 [11.1%] cases of congenital mitral valve disease. Valve dysfunction was classified into three types: type I [normal leaflet motion], 6 patients; type II [prolapsed leaflet], 1 patient; type III [restricted leaflet motion], 29 patients. Twenty-nine patients [80.6%] had pure or predominant stenosis and 7[19.4%] had pure regurgitation. No patient was in NYHA functional class I. Three patients [16.7%] were in functional class II, 15[83.3%] were in functional class II. The techniques used included closed mitral commissurotomy [16 patients], open mitral commissurotomy [13 patients], localized Wooler type annuloplasty [4 patients], suture repair of leaflet defect [3 patients], chordal shortening [1 patient], Carpentier ring annuloplasty [1 patient], and fenestration of fused chordae [1 patient]. There were two perioperative deaths [5.6%], related to left ventricular failure and reoperation. The survivors were followed up for 94 patient-years [mean 4.68*5.54 years]. One late death [1.1*1.1% per patient-year] occurred and was valve related. Reoperation was required in 3 patients, of whom 2 were deaths. There was 1 case [1.1*1.1% per patient-year] of thromboembolism. No patient received anticoagulant after operation. At 10 year, 92*7.4% of the patients were still alive. The actuarial survival rate of patients free of valve-related complication was 79*6.4% at 6 years, 27*12.1% at 11 years. After surgery, 18 patients [88.9%] were in NYHA functional class I or II.