A 62-year-old man was referred for an aortic-valve surgery because of severe aortic stenosis. Thirty years ago, he had undergone a mitral valve commissurotomy and after 9 years, the valve had been replaced by a mechanical valve. He had been undergoing hemodialysis for the past 8 years. A computed tomographic (CT) scan of the chest and abdomen showed a dense circumferential calcification in the ...

Mitral regurgitation due to 'floppy' valves is frequently associated with areas of medical necrosis in the ascending aorta. Application of the aortic clamp to such an area during valve replacement may produce an intimal tear followed by acute dissection. This complication occurred in three patients and was treated successfully by repair of the tear in the two cases where the dissection was obse...

Objective: The intermediate results achieved with a new technique for primary repair of tetralogy of Fallot with absent pulmonary valve syndrome are reported. Method: Apart from correction of tetralogy of Fallot, this approach includes translocation of the pulmonary artery anterior to the aorta and away from the tracheobronchial tree. Since November 1998 this technique has been employed in thre...

INTRODUCTION Anomalies of the aortic arch are frequent congenital malformations, which rarely form partial or complete vascular rings. A rare form of vascular ring is the encircling, or circumflex, aortic arch. CASE REPORT A 19-month-old boy, with no respiratory symptoms, was referred for ventricular septal defect (VSD) repair. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and echocardiography confirmed...

A 62-year-old woman presented with a sudden transient ischemic attack (TIA). Symptoms resolved within 2 hours of onset. Neurological evaluation and workout for etiology of the TIA was unremarkable. Her medical history included having a St. Jude mitral valve replacement for mitral regurgitation 10 years before presentation. The patient had been maintained on warfarin with INR levels generally in...

Background—Leaflet escape is a mode of structural valve failure for mechanical prostheses. This complication previously has been reported for both monoleaflet and bileaflet valve models. We report 2 leaflet escape occurrences observed in 2 patients who underwent valve replacement with a TRI Technologies valve prosthesis. Methods and Results—At the University of Padua, between November 2000 and ...

BACKGROUND Leaflet escape is a mode of structural valve failure for mechanical prostheses. This complication previously has been reported for both monoleaflet and bileaflet valve models. We report 2 leaflet escape occurrences observed in 2 patients who underwent valve replacement with a TRI Technologies valve prosthesis. METHODS AND RESULTS At the University of Padua, between November 2000 an...

THE MOST DIRECT APPROACH to measurement of the volume of blood regurgitating across an insufficient mitral valve consists of the injection of indicator into the left ventricle and simultaneous sampling of blood from the left atrium and from the aorta or one of its branches. If mixing is complete in the left ventricle, the distribution of indicator to upstream and downstream collection sites is ...

OBJECTIVES This study observed midterm results of vascular ring connectors in surgery for aortic dissection. METHODS Vascular ring connectors were used as stents in vascular grafts to achieve quick, sutureless anastomoses. Tapes were used to secure ringed vascular grafts from outside the aorta. RESULTS From November 2007 to February 2011, 113 consecutive patients with aortic dissection, exc...

From May 1990 through December 1994, integral valved aortic homografts were implanted for replacement of the aortic valve and of part or the whole of the ascending aorta in 24 patients with a mean age of 45.5 years (17-66 years). Ten patients (41.7%) had infective endocarditis of the aortic valve (4 of the native valve and 6 prosthetic). Seven of these had root abscesses (70%), one with a fistu...