Shota Yasuda

Risk Analysis for Hospital Mortality in Patients With Acute Type A Aortic Dissection

BACKGROUND Stanford type A acute aortic dissection is a fatal condition requiring emergency surgery. This study was designed to evaluate risk factors for hospital mortality in patients with Stanford type A acute aortic dissection. METHODS We studied consecutive 301 patients (163 men and 138 women; mean age, 63.3 years) who underwent emergency surgery for Stanford type A acute aortic dissection from January 1997 through December 2007. The subjects were divided into two groups: patients who were discharged from the hospital, and those who died during hospitalization. Preoperative and operative clinical factors were compared between the groups. RESULTS Overall, 41 patients (13.6%) died during hospitalization. On univariate analysis, significant preoperative risk factors for hospital mortality were cardiopulmonary resuscitation, coagulopathy, renal dysfunction, elevated aspartate aminotransferase levels, myocardial ischemia, and lower-extremity ischemia. As for factors related to surgery, the duration of operation, cardiopulmonary bypass time, aortic cross-clamp time, and volume of blood transfusion were greater among patients who died during hospitalization than in those who were discharged from the hospital. On multivariate analysis, independent preoperative risk factors were cardiopulmonary resuscitation, renal dysfunction, and lower-extremity ischemia. Shock or cardiac tamponade were not risk factors. CONCLUSIONS Risk factors for hospital mortality in patients with Stanford type A acute aortic dissection were cardiopulmonary resuscitation, renal dysfunction, and lower-extremity ischemia.

Fibromuscular Dysplasia Associated With Simultaneous Spontaneous Dissection of Four Peripheral Arteries in a 30-Year-Old Man

A 30-year-old man had a sudden bout of severe abdominal pain. An enhanced computed tomographic scan revealed dissections of the celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery, left renal artery, and right external iliac artery; stenosis of the right renal artery; and left kidney infarction. After careful evaluation, the patient was diagnosed with fibromuscular dysplasia (medial dysplasia), based on the findings obtained from the enhanced computed tomographic scan. This case is extremely rare because fibromuscular dysplasia occurred concurrently with simultaneous spontaneous dissections of four peripheral arteries in a young man.

Endovascular repair of ascending aortic rupture: effectiveness of a fenestrated stent-graft.

Purpose: To present a technique for endovascular treatment using a fenestrated stent-graft in a patient with ascending aortic rupture in the setting of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection. Case Report: A 62-year-old woman had undergone mastectomy and radiotherapy twice for breast cancer and then coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). She developed sternal osteomyelitis 5 years after the CABG. Sternectomy and negative-pressure wound drainage were performed, but the infection did not resolve. Ascending aortic rupture occurred 5 months after sternectomy. Endovascular therapy was considered the only effective means of achieving hemostasis. A custom-designed fenestrated stent-graft was deployed from the ascending aorta to the proximal descending aorta via a femoral artery approach without transient cardiac arrest. Bleeding completely stopped after surgery. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the inflammatory activity subsided on antibiotic therapy. At 7 months after surgery, the patients recovery has been uneventful. Conclusion: Rupture of the ascending aorta associated with infection was successfully treated by stent-graft repair. The use of a custom-made, fenestrated stent-graft was an effective, lifesaving procedure for the management of this ascending aortic lesion.

Clinical outcomes of emergency surgery for acute type B aortic dissection with rupture

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of emergency surgery for acute type B aortic dissection with rupture and to compare results between open surgery and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). METHODS Two hundred and ninety-four patients with acute type B aortic dissection were admitted to our hospital between January 2000 and March 2012. At presentation, 30 (10%) patients had rupture (20 men, 10 women; mean age, 71 ± 15 years), among whom 23 underwent emergency surgery: 9 underwent TEVAR and 14 underwent open surgery. The objective of TEVAR was closure of the primary entry site and the secondary tear site in the descending thoracic aorta. RESULTS In the TEVAR group, technical success was achieved: the primary entry site was closed, and bleeding was controlled in all 9 patients. There was no operative death, and 1 (13%) patient had cerebral infarction. In the open surgery group, 2 (14%) patients died during hospitalization, and 4 (29%) had cerebral infarction in the acute phase. Hospitalization tended to be longer in the open surgery group than in the TEVAR group. The overall survival rate at 1 year was 71 ± 17% in the TEVAR group and 86 ± 9% in the open surgery group (P = 0.89). CONCLUSIONS TEVAR for acute type B aortic dissection with rupture could be performed with relatively low morbidity and mortality, with no significant difference when compared with open surgery. The main objective of TEVAR for acute type B aortic dissection with rupture is control of bleeding, which can be achieved by closing the primary entry site and the secondary tear site in the descending thoracic aorta. If anatomically feasible and performed immediately, TEVAR is the treatment of choice for acute type B aortic dissection with rupture because it is less invasive than open surgery.

Successful Endovascular Treatment of a Ruptured Superior Mesenteric Artery in a Patient with Ehlers‒Danlos Syndrome

The purpose of this study was to describe covered-stent treatment of a ruptured dissection of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) in a patient with Ehlers‒Danlos syndrome. The patient was a 13-year-old girl initially presenting with abdominal pain. Dissection and rupture of the SMA were diagnosed on detailed examination. Conservative treatment was performed initially because open surgery was considered high risk. However, the abdominal pain recurred, and we decided to perform endovascular therapy. A coronary artery covered stent was placed in the true lumen to close the entry site of the dissection. The false lumen was obliterated using a post-dilation technique, completing treatment of the rupture. The patient recovered uneventfully after surgery. Classic-type Ehlers‒Danlos syndrome was diagnosed on the basis of physical findings and genetic analysis. The stent has remained adequately patent as of 2 years after surgery. This case report shows that dissection and rupture of the SMA can be treated successfully using a covered coronary artery stent in a patient with Ehlers‒Danlos syndrome.

Evaluation of the Vertebrobasilar System in Thoracic Aortic Surgery

BACKGROUND We evaluated the probability of vertebrobasilar system malperfusion due to occlusion of the left subclavian artery as assessed by preoperative magnetic resonance angiography in patients scheduled to undergo thoracic aortic surgery. METHODS (Study 1) From January 2000 through March 2009, we studied variations of vertebral arteries in 301 patients scheduled to undergo thoracic aortic surgery. We classified vertebral artery variations into 3 categories according to the findings on preoperative magnetic resonance angiography: connection type, interrupted right vertebral artery, and interrupted left vertebral artery. (Study 2) From February 2007 through January 2010, we evaluated the cerebral complication in 41 patients who had occlusion of the left subclavian artery with a stent graft. RESULTS (Study 1) On preoperative magnetic resonance angiography, the vertebral artery was classified as connection type in 247 patients, interrupted right vertebral artery in 34, and interrupted left vertebral artery in 20. (Study 2) We performed subclavian obstruction test, left-right subclavian artery bypass, or left subclavian artery-left common carotid artery bypass to the 3 patients with interrupted right vertebral artery, respectively. Forty patients (98%) out of 41 patients had no complication after occlusion of the left subclavian artery. CONCLUSIONS Preoperative magnetic resonance angiography is useful for detection of the patients with high risk of vertebrobasilar system malperfusion due to occlusion of the left subclavian artery.

Early reperfusion strategy improves the outcomes of surgery for type A acute aortic dissection with malperfusion

Objective The control of malperfusion is the key to improving the outcomes of surgery for type A acute aortic dissection. We revised our treatment strategy to reperfuse each ischemic organ before central repair. Methods Our current early reperfusion strategy consists of percutaneous coronary artery intervention for coronary malperfusion, direct surgical fenestration for carotid artery occlusion, active perfusion of the superior mesenteric artery for visceral malperfusion, and external shunting from the brachial artery to the femoral artery for lower limb ischemia. Central repair is performed without delay after reperfusion therapy, but if irreversible organ damage is recognized, further aggressive treatment is discontinued. Results Among 438 patients who underwent initial treatment for type A acute aortic dissection, malperfusion in one or more organs was diagnosed in 108 patients (24%). We applied an early reperfusion strategy in 33 patients, (coronary, 14 patients; carotid, 4; visceral, 7; lower extremity, 8). Central repair was then performed in 28 patients. One patient (3.6%) died of pneumonia; 27 patients overcame the ischemic organ damage and survived. Among the 108 patients with malperfusion, 10 patients (9.3%) were treated medically without early reperfusion and central repair. During the same period, mortality from central repair procedures in patients with malperfusion who had not received early reperfusion therapy was 12 of 65 (18%), and the mortality of patients without malperfusion was 9 of 262 (3.4%). Malperfusion was a serious risk factor for hospital death, but the mortality rate of the patients with an early reperfusion strategy was significantly (P < .01) lower than the patients without early reperfusion. Conclusions Our strategy might improve the outcomes of surgery for type A acute aortic dissection with malperfusion. This strategy enables us to avoid unproductive central repair procedures in irreversibly damaged patients.

Evaluation and Influence of Brachiocephalic Branch Re-entry in Patients With Type A Acute Aortic Dissection

BACKGROUND Stanford type A acute aortic dissection (A-AAD) extends to the brachiocephalic branches in some patients. After ascending aortic replacement, a remaining re-entry tear in the distal brachiocephalic branches may act as an entry and result in a patent false lumen in the aortic arch. However, the effect of brachiocephalic branch re-entry concomitant with A-AAD remains unknown.Methods and Results:Eighty-five patients with A-AAD who underwent ascending aortic replacement in which both preoperative and postoperative multiple-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scans could be evaluated were retrospectively studied. The presence of a patent false lumen in at least one of the brachiocephalic branches on preoperative MDCT was defined as brachiocephalic branch re-entry, and 41 patients (48%) had this. Postoperatively, 47 of 85 (55%) patients had a patent false lumen in the aortic arch. False lumen remained patent after operation in 34 out of the 41 (83%) patients with brachiocephalic branch re-entry, as compared to that in 13 of the 44 (30%) patients without such re-entry (P<0.001). Brachiocephalic branch re-entry was a significant risk factor for a late increase in the aortic arch diameter greater than 10 mm (P=0.047). CONCLUSIONS Brachiocephalic branch re-entry in patients with A-AAD is related to a patent false lumen in the aortic arch early after ascending aortic replacement and is a risk factor for late aortic arch enlargement.

Exophytic Atheroma Mimicking Papillary Fibroelastoma Adjacent to the Aortic Valve

Follow-up echocardiography in a 69-year-old man with alcoholic cardiomyopathy showed a mass above the aortic valve near the left coronary ostium. Transesophageal echocardiography and computed tomography suggested a papillary fibroelastoma with a high risk of embolism. At operation we found an exophytic atheroma adjacent to the left coronary artery orifice. The atheroma was removed, and the patient made an uneventful recovery. We describe this very rare case of an exophytic atheroma mimicking a papillary fibroelastoma situated at the left coronary orifice.

Devised reinforcement of distal stump in total arch replacement using BioGlue

Although thoracic endovascular aortic repair and the open stent-grafting technique have become popular, surgical replacement of the aorta remains the procedure of choice for arch aneurysms. Distal anastomosis in total arch replacement is fraught with danger in the patient with a fragile aortic wall, and can lead to uncontrollable bleeding from the fragile distal stump with existing reinforcement techniques. We describe an easy and secure distal anastomosis reinforcement technique, the “BioGlue rolled sandwich technique”, for total arch replacement, which avoids the difficulties of application of BioGlue near the vagus and phrenic nerves.