• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.448-454
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• 1980

The juxtaposition of atrial appendage may possibly be diagnosed by angiography recently, and it is widely regarded as an ominous sign of severe cyanotic congenital heart disease. However, it is apparently rare congenital cardiac anomaly in which the atrial appendages lie side by side, both to the left or right of the great arteries, known as left or right juxtaposition of the atrial appendages. Juxtaposition of the atrial appendages has no functional significance, since it does not, itself, cause any hemodynamic disturbance. But it`s presence always indicates the coexistence of other major cardiac anomalies. In review of literatures TGA and VSD are invariable present, and ASD is common. Other anomalies, such as, tricuspid atresia, pulmonary outflow that, obstruction bicuspid pulmonic valve, persistent SVC etc. are relatively high incidence. In this report, we present one case of 6 year old female child having left juxtaposition of atrial appendage combined with TGA [D-looping, D-transposition], TAPVD, large ASD, small VSD, and vertical vein.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.429-431
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• 2015

Congenital pericardial defects (CPDs) are infrequent anomalies that are usually asymptomatic and are discovered incidentally during unrelated interventions. Here we report the case of a CPD with herniation of an enlarged left atrial appendage identified during total thoracoscopic ablation (TTA) for persistent atrial fibrillation (AF). The persistent AF was successfully treated with a hybrid procedure, in which TTA was followed by an electrophysiological study.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.102-107
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• 1993

Human atria play an important role in extracellular homeostasis through release of atrial natriuretic peptide. To evaluate the relationship between plasma level of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and many changes which can develop during extracorporeal circulation, we studied 16 patients undergoing, 12 cardiac operation and 4 thoracic operation. Plasma level of ANP in cardiac patients group was significantly higher and more changeable than thoracic patients group. After aortic cross clamp release, blood was filled at right atrium and right atrial pressure was rapidly increased. At the same time, plasma level of ANP was rised suddenly. Increase of ANP level was correlated (p<0.05) with the increase of total bypass time, but was not correlated statistical with aortic cross clamp time. ANP level did not fall rapidly after aortic cross clamp while both atria were completely empty. This result was explained by intraoperative hypothermia at that time, which can inactivate plasmal endopeptidase and catalytic receptors of ANP. The ANP level of atrial fibrillation group in cardiac patients were generally higher than normal sinus group, but there was no statistical correlation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.280-282
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• 2014

Atrial septal defect (ASD) is one of the most common congenital heart defects in adults. Surgical repair is the most common treatment approach, but device closure has recently become widely performed in accordance with the trend toward less invasive surgical approaches. Although surgery is recommended when ASD is accompanied by atrial fibrillation, this study reports a case in which a complete cure was achieved by closure of a device and totally thoracoscopic ablation.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1081-1089
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• 1991

Atrial fibrillation is characterized by beat to beat irregularity of shape, size, conduction time and polarity. The mechanism of atrial fibrillation can be explained by so called "Multiple wavelet theory". The adverse effect of atrial fibrillation is the decrease of cardiac output by absence of atrial kick[10 ~ 15%] and the possibility of thrombosis in the left atrium which is dangerous to develop the thromboembolism is increased. The present study was designed to assess the effect of overdrive pacing on the suppression of recurring of atrial fibrillation after open heart surgery and the results were summarized as follows: 1. There were no significant differences of factors between converting patients and non-converting patients to normal sinus rhythm by electric cardioversion after open heart surgery. 2. Among converting patients to normal sinus rhythm, there were no significant differences of factors between study group and control group. 3. Cardiothoracic Ratio on the preoperative chest film was significantly larger in the patients of recurring atrial fibrillation within 72hrs than in the patients of maintaining normal sinus rhythm. [61.7$\pm$ 1.4% vs 67.7$\pm$2.4%, p=0.03] 4. There was a significant difference of suppressive effects between overdrive pacing group and control group among recurred cases until 24, 48, and 72hours [Fisher`s exact test ; p=0.037, p=0.076, p=0.53, respectively] 5. There was a difference of the delay of recurring of atrial fibrillation between study group and control group among recurred cases within 72 hours.[53.4$\pm$6.9hr vs. 19.3$\pm$3.8 hr, p<0.01] We think that the overdrive pacing may suppress the natural pacemaker and the converted normal sinus rhythm is maintained longer than control group during critical immediate postoperative period.ve period.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.364-377
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• 2022

An anatomical understanding of the atrial myocardium is crucial for surgeons and interventionists who treat atrial arrhythmias. We reviewed the anatomy of the inter-nodal and intra-atrial conduction systems. The anterior inter-nodal route (#1) arises from the sinus node and runs through the ventral wall of the atrial chambers. The major branch of route #1 approaches the atrioventricular node from the anterior aspect. Other branches of route #1 are Bachmann's bundle and a vestibular branch around the tricuspid valve. The middle inter-nodal route (#2) begins with a broad span of fibers at the sinus venarum and extends to the superior limbus of the oval fossa. The major branch of route #2 joins with the branch of route #1 at the anterior part of the atrioventricular node. The posterior inter-nodal route (#3) is at the terminal crest and gives rise to many branches at the pectinate muscles of the right atrium and then approaches the posterior atrioventricular node after joining with the vestibular branch of route #1. The branches of the left part of Bachmann's bundle and the branches of the second inter-nodal route form a thin myocardial network at the posterior wall of the left atrium. These anatomical structures could be categorized into major routes and side branches. There are 9 or more anatomical circles in the atrial chambers that could be structural sites for macro re-entry. The implications of normal and abnormal structures of the myocardium for the pathogenesis and treatment of atrial arrhythmias are discussed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.358-366
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• 2014

Background: To improve sinus rhythm conversion, the Cox maze III procedure with narrow mazes (width: ${\leq}3.0cm$) was performed in combination with left atrial volume reduction. Methods: From October 2007 to April 2013, 87 patients with atrial fibrillation (paroxysmal in 3, persistent in 14, and permanent in 70) underwent the Cox maze procedure concomitant with another cardiac procedure. They were followed-up with serial electrocardiographic and echocardiographic studies. We used 24-hour Holter monitoring tests to evaluate postoperatively symptomatic patients. Results: At the mean follow-up time of 36.4 months, 81 patients (94.2%) had sinus rhythm and two were on anti-arrhythmic medication (one on a beta-blocker and the other on amiodarone). Five patients (5.8%) with postoperative recurrent and persistent atrial fibrillation never experienced sinus rhythm conversion; however, they did not require any medication for rate control. On postoperative echocardiography, the left atrial A waves were more frequently observed after concomitant mitral valve repair than after concomitant mitral valve replacement (82.4% vs. 40.4%, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusion: For the Cox maze procedure, narrow mazes and atrial volume reduction resulted in excellent sinus rhythm conversion without the preventive use of anti-arrhythmic drugs, and they did not affect the presence of the left atrial A waves on echocardiography.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.928-932
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• 2002

Perinatal atrial flutter is a potentially lethal arrhythmia. Management of this disorder is difficult and controversial. Fetal atrial flutter is a serious and life threatening rhythm disorder particulary when it causes hydrops; it may be associated with fetal death or neurological damage. Although the initial episode of flutter may be difficult to control, recurrence of atrial flutter after successful resolution of the arrhythmia seems highly unlikely and long-term prognosis is excellent. We experienced a case of a atrial flutter diagnosed in utero at $38^{+6}$ weeks' gestation by fetal cardiac echocardiography. He was treated with maternal digoxin, but he continued to have atrial flutter until delivery. Restoration of sinus rhythm occured with propafenone therapy in this patient after failure of initial digoxin therapy and direct current cardioversion.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.63-67
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• 2013

A 76-year-old woman with hypertension was admitted to the hospital with complaints of chest pain and dyspnea. An echocardiogram and pulmonary computed tomography angiography showed right atrial myxoma complicated with pulmonary thromboembolism. An operation to resect the right atrial myxoma and pulmonary embolism was recommended; however, the patient refused and was discharged with anticoagulation therapy. Two years later, she developed dyspnea. Radiological studies and echocardiography showed similar results with the previous findings. The patient underwent mediastinotomy with resection of the right atrial myxoma and pulmonary embolectomy. As there are few reports on right atrial myxoma complicated with pulmonary embolism, we report a successful case of surgical removal of right atrial myxoma and pulmonary embolism.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.131-135
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• 1995

Fifteen patients[10 female and 5 male from 13 to 73 years of age[mean age 46 years underwent excision of atrial myxomas between 1981 and 1993 at the Chonnam University Hospital. Fourteen patients presented with exertional or resting dyspnea, six with palpitation, five with systemic embolization, and three with syncope. Symptoms were present from 1 week to 14 months before operation. Fourteen tumors originated from the atrial septum of left atrium and one of bilateral atrium. All tumors were pedunculated; tumor sizes were variable from 2x1x1cm to 7x6x5cm. No ventricular tumors identified. The myxomas were successfully removed in all patients, either by shaving them from the atrial septum[n=7 or excising a portion of normal atrial septum with the tumor and ASD patch closure[n=8 . There was no perioperative or late death in our experience. Follow-up is current and complete in all cases[range 6 months to 13 years . Thirteen patients are in New York Heart Association Class I, and the remaining two patients are in Class II. One recurrent left atrial myxoma was identified at 20 months after operation. In this series, excellent results were obtained by simple excision of the tumor, with or without a margin of normal atrial septum. Long-term clinical & echocardiographic follow-up is recommended since late recurrence, although rare, has been reported.