Veikko Rantakokko

Total and proximal gastrectomy in the treatment of gastric carcinoma: A series of 305 cases

A total of 305 total or proximal gastrectomies for gastric carcinoma were performed in 291 patients. Of the tumors 51.5% were of the intestinal-type and 35.7% were of the diffuse-type of carcinoma. Proximal gastrectomy was performed in 68 patients, total gastrectomy in 230, and anastomotic resection in 7. In 25 patients a reresection for recurrent carcinoma was performed. After total gastrectomy the main reconstructive procedures were end-to-side esophago-jejunostomy and Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy. The hospital mortality rate was 13.4%. The main causes of death were anastomotic leakage and pulmonary embolism. The incidence of leakage was 10.8% and the complication proved fatal in 36.4% of the patients who developed it. After Roux-en-Y reconstruction only 8% of the patients with leakage died. After curative operations 27% of the patients survived for over 5 years (relative survival rate of 33%). The 5-year survival rates for the intestinal-type and diffusetype of carcinoma were similar, but the 10-year survival rate for intestinal-type of carcinoma was significantly better. In our view a relatively high mortality rate after total or proximal gastrectomy has to be accepted when older patients are concerned, and when no other curative procedure is possible on account of the site and extent of invasion of the tumor. However, in cases where radical resection can be achieved by means of subtotal gastrectomy, this method is best. At present, in cases of the diffuse-type of carcinoma of the corpus, we perform a total gastrectomy instead of subtotal gastrectomy. In the small series of reresections the results were encouraging.

Composite graft in annulo-aortic ectasia : Nineteen years' experience without graft inclusion

OBJECTIVE The original Bentall procedure for the surgery of annulo-aortic ectasia (AAE) includes the risk of leakage and pseudo-aneurysm formation in the coronary anastomosis. To avoid the complications mentioned above we have used the open technique without the graft inclusion. In this study we evaluate our early and late results. MATERIAL AND METHODS One hundred consecutive patients with annuloaortic ectasia underwent surgical repair with composite graft between December 1975 and February 1994. In all cases the aneurysmal tissue was radically resected and the origins of the coronary arteries were directly reimplanted to the tube prosthesis. No wrapping was used. Twenty-two patients met the clinical criteria of Marfan syndrome. Thirteen of the patients underwent an emergency operation, because of a rupture of aneurysm in 2 cases and an acute dissection in 11 cases. Additional procedures were performed in 16 patients: mitral valve replacement in 2, coronary artery bypass grafting in 12 patients and in 2 cases the tube prosthesis included aortic arch, too. RESULTS The overall hospital mortality was 3.0% (3/100). In the elective group there was one hospital death (1/87; 1.1%). In the emergency group two patients died in the operation room (2/13; 16.7%). There have been 13 late deaths among the 97 hospital survivors (13.4%). Four of the late deaths were surgery related. Routine control angiography was performed in all patients 6 months after surgery. Sixty patients who had lived at least 3 years after surgery were called to reangiography and 53 of them came. No pseudo-aneurysm or leakage at distal anastomosis or coronary anastomosis could be seen. A slight dilatation of one or both coronary origins was observed on 15 patients; 9 of whom had Marfan syndrome. CONCLUSIONS The open technique is simple and can be used in all anatomical variations of the annulo-aortic ectasia. The early and late results are at least comparable with those achieved by other techniques.

Early Results and Complications of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery: A Consecutive Series of 441 Patients

The mortality rate and early complications of coronary artery bypass surgery were assessed for the first 441 consecutive patients operated on at Turku University Hospital. The overall hospital mortality rate was 2.5%. Perioperative myocardial infarction (PMI) accounted for more than half of the deaths, cerebral thromboembolism and sudden coronary death each for one-fifth and left ventricular failure for one-tenth. Postoperative complications occurred in 17.7% of the patients. Bleeding and postpericardiotomy syndrome were the most common complications (in 5.2 and 3.6% of the patients). Sternal resuture was needed in 3.2% of the patients, and PMI occurred in 2.9%. PMI had a 46% mortality rate, with two-thirds of the deaths occurring in the operating theatre. Only PMI reached statistical significance as sole cause of death. Mode of myocardial protection, completeness of revascularization and severity of coronary disease did not influence the PMI rate. Graft patency overall was 92.8% on average 3 months after surgery. The respective patency rates for internal mammary artery grafts and vein grafts were 90.3 and 92.9%.

Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis

Prosthetic valve endocarditis is an infrequent but serious complication of valve surgery. It occurred in 25 (3.2%) of 772 patients who received aortic, mitral or double valve replacement in 1971-1987. The total follow-up time was 3,976 patient years, giving an incidence of 0.63/100 patient years. Staphylococci were the most common of the cultured organisms in early and late infections-60% and 64%, respectively. The endocarditis was disclosed at autopsy in two cases. Treatment was antibiotics alone in 11 cases, and surgery was required in 12, the indication always being congestive heart failure. C-reactive protein level fell more rapidly than erythrocyte sedimentation rate in response to antibiotic or surgical management. The mortality rate was 73% in the antibiotic group and 33% in the surgical group. The findings demonstrated that an infected valve prosthesis should be replaced without delay if complications develop.

Early and late results of aortic valve replacement. A series of 510 patients.

Aortic valve replacement was performed in 510 patients (Björk-Shiley valves in 93%), with concomitant surgical procedures in 146 cases. The patients were grouped according to technique of myocardial protection: Group I (n = 98) selective coronary perfusion, group II (n = 82) topical cooling, and group III (n = 330) cold crystalloid cardioplegia and topical cooling. The early mortality rate was 5.7% overall: Among patients with isolated aortic valve replacement in groups I, II and III it was 8.4, 1.7 and 1.3%, respectively, and among those with additional surgery 40.0, 12.5 and 8.4%. Myocardial infarction and low cardiac output were responsible for 65.5% of the early deaths. Follow-up ranged from 2 months to 16 11/12 years, totalling 2,859 patient years. In patients with isolated aortic valve replacement and Björk-Shiley prosthesis, the incidence of valve-related late complications/100 patient years was 0.49 for thromboembolism, 0.82 for anticoagulant-related haemorrhage and 0.49 for prosthetic valve endocarditis. There was no thrombotic encapsulation in aortic position. Survival at 5 and 10 years was 83% and 72%. Aortic valve replacement is a safe procedure and concomitant operations do not unreasonably increase risks.

Clinical results after mitral valve replacement with the björk-shiley disc prosthesis

Between September 1971 and June 1985, 230 Björk-Shiley valves were implanted for mitral valve disease at the Department of Surgery, University of Turku. Concomitant cardiac surgical procedures were performed in 35.2% of the cases. The follow-up period was between 1 month-13 years 4 months, with a total follow-up of 986 patient years. The early mortality was 4% in patients with isolated MVR and 10% where concomitant procedures had to be performed. Since the use of cold cardioplegia there has been no mortality for isolated MVR and the mortality rate for patients with concomitant procedures has been 3.9%. During the follow-up the rate of thromboembolism was 0.4 per 100 patient years, that of thrombolic encapsulation 0.4 and anticoagulant-related haemorrhage 0.7. Ninety-five per cent of the patients were free from thrombotic or embolic complications at 5 and 10 years after surgery. The survival rate was 79% at 5 years and 72% at 10 years. Considering these results we still prefer the Björk-Shiley valve in mitral valve replacement.

Acute Dissection of Ascending Aortic Aneurysm in a Patient with Previous Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Six years after coronary artery bypass grafting, a 61-year-old man underwent emergency surgery for annulo-aortic ectasia and acute dissection. The aneurysmal tissue and aortic valve were excised and reconstruction was achieved with a composite graft. The patent vein grafts were attached to the composite graft and the original coronary orifices were closed.

Annulo-Aortic Ectasia Involving the Aortic Arch. Total Replacement Using a Composite Graft: A Case Report

A case of annulo-aortic ectasia involving the aortic arch and the proximal part of the left subclavian artery is reported. The aorta was replaced with a composite graft (Björk-shiley tilting disc valve and very soft Cooley low-porosity prosthesis) and the coronary ostia and the innominate and left common carotid arteries were implanted directly into the prosthetic tube. The patient recovered without complications.

RESULTS OF MULTIPLE VALVE REPAIR A Clinical Study of 81 Patients

A report is presented of 50 men and 31 women, mean age 50.3 years, who underwent surgery for multivalvular cardiac disease in 1973-1987. NYHA function class was III-IV in 88% of the patients. The most common procedures were aortic + mitral valve replacement (81%), aortic + mitral valve replacement + coronary artery bypass grafting (5%), aortic valve replacement + tricuspid valvuloplasty (5%) and mitral valve replacement + tricuspid valvuloplasty (5%); 95% of the implanted valves were of Björk-Shiley disc type. Nine patients died perioperatively, six due to myocardial infarction and/or low cardiac output. Postoperative bleeding necessitated resternotomy in three cases. Follow-up was complete, with a mean observation time of 4.5 years (a total of 323 patient years). The incidence of thrombotic valve encapsulation was 0.6/100 patient years. Corresponding figures for anticoagulant-related haemorrhage, prosthetic valve endocarditis and paraprosthetic leakage were 0.9, 1.2 and 1.2. In our experience, the rate of late complications after multivalvular reconstruction using Björk-Shiley prosthesis is acceptable if anticoagulant therapy is correctly employed.