ObjectiveHAART 300 (BioStable Science and Engineering, Inc) aortic annuloplasty rings restore physiologic annular geometry during valve repair. Transcatheter valve-in-ring implantation is appealing for recurrent dysfunction but may necessitate balloon fracture of downsized rings. We characterized the feasibility ring changes in preceding fracture.MethodsThe 19-mm, 21-mm, 23-mm HAART were obtain...

Bicuspid aortic valve is traditionally considered an innocuous congenital anomaly. Due to a better and widespread availability of non-invasive imaging techniques, it has come to the fore that 30% of these cases develop complications, viz., valve abnormality (aortic regurgitation and stenosis), and aneurysm of aortic root and ascending aorta. Sinus of Valsalva aneurysm is an uncommon complicatio...

The purpose of this study was to define early events during the angiogenic response of the aortic wall to injury. Rat aortic rings produced neovessels in collagen culture but lost this capacity over time. These quiescent rings responded to vascular endothelial growth factor but not to a mixture of macrophage-stimulatory cytokines and chemokines that was angiogenically active on fresh rings. Ana...

Crocus sativus L. (saffron) is a widely used food additive for its color and taste. The hypotensive effects of saffron have been shown in previous studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the mechanism of vasodilatory effects induced by saffron on isolated rat aorta.To study the vasodilatory effects of saffron aqueous extract (0.5, 1 and 2 mg/mL), isolated rat thoracic aorta rings were co...

BACKGROUND Patients with infective endocarditis show a large diversity of anatomical presentations, which has been a complicating factor for the surgical treatment of this condition, especially in those who develop abscesses in the aortic ring or intracardiac fistulae. For this reason, surgeons have been developing tactical options to repair it. There is consensus around the fact that the remov...

A 73-year old woman presented with progressive exertional dyspnoea. Echocardiography revealed severe regurgitation of the aortic, mitral and tricuspid valves, indicating the need for multiple valve surgery. The patient had a past history of oesophageal cancer that had been treated with chemoradiotherapy followed by oesophagectomy with presternal reconstruction using a gastric tube and a pedicle...

Vascular ring caused by double aortic arch most commonly occurs as an isolated anomaly (Keith, Rowe, and Vlad, I967). However, its association with pulmonary stenosis (Bahnson and Blalock, I950), tetralogy of Fallot (Griswold and Young, I949; Stewart, Kincaid, and Edwards, I964), truncus arteriosus (Kerwin, I936), ventricular septal defect and left superior vena cava (Lincoln et al., I969), and...