Patients with liver cirrhosis are prone to the development of severe complications associated with high mortality rates after major surgery, especially cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). We report the case of a 65-year-old man with acute infective endocarditis and aortic valve perforation, complicated by non-cardiac liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh class B). After careful preoperati...

OBJECTIVES We prospectively examined functional characteristics of the aortic root and transvalvular haemodynamic flow in order to define factors associated with the severity of aortopathy in patients undergoing surgery for bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) stenosis. METHODS A total of 103 consecutive patients with BAV stenosis (mean age 61 ± 9 years, 66% male) underwent aortic valve replacement ± ...

Background: This study aims to better understand diagnosing and treating arterial gastrointestinal fistulas. Methods: The diagnosis treatment of two patients with fistulas were reported, the experience was summarized. Results: In these cases, both admitted bleeding as primary complaint, underwent emergency laparotomies, diagnosed small intestinal before surgery. first patient died a result an a...

BACKGROUND Data on outcomes after Stanford type A aortic dissection in patients with Marfan syndrome are limited. We investigated the primary surgery and long-term results in patients with Marfan syndrome who suffered aortic dissection. METHODS AND RESULTS Among 1324 consecutive patients with aortic dissection type A, 74 with Marfan syndrome (58% men; median age, 37 years [first and third qua...

Acute aortic syndromes including aortic rupture remain lifethreatening, and represent a unique area in cardiovascular surgery. Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) has become widely accepted as a major option in the treatment of thoracic aortic diseases, particularly for emergency patients such as those with a ruptured dissection [1,2]. We report a case with type B aortic dissection that...

OBJECTIVES To assess early and long-term outcomes in a large cohort of patients undergoing open aortic arch surgery. METHODS From 1996 to 2012, 623 consecutive patients (mean age: 62.8 years) underwent aortic arch interventions in our institution. Of these, 208 (33.4%) presented with an acute aortic syndrome (AAS) and 415 (66.6%) with a chronic aortic pathology (CAP). During the study period,...

OBJECTIVE To analyse our results of using a double arterial perfusion strategy to avoid lower body hypothermic circulatory arrest after extensive thoracic aortic surgery. METHODS We analysed the intra- and perioperative courses of 10 patients (median age 58 years, median logistic EuroSCORE 14.6) who underwent extensive thoracic aortic surgery with a double arterial perfusion strategy. The mai...

OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to evaluate operative and long-term results of valve-sparing aortic root surgery in acute type A dissection. The repair consisted of selective replacement of all dissected and pathological sinuses. METHODS Forty-six patients (mean age 62 ± 14; range 29-88 years, 3 with Marfan syndrome), operated on between August 2001 and July 2011 due to acute type A aorti...

OBJECTIVE During the early phase of evaluation of a new intervention, data exist for present practice. The authors propose a method of constructing a fair comparator group using these data. In this case study, the authors use the example of external aortic root support, a novel alternative to aortic root replacement. DESIGN A matched comparison group, of similar age, aortic size and aortic va...

aortopulmonary window (apw) is a rare congenital malformation. it results from an incomplete division between the ascending aorta and the pulmonary artery. we describe a 26-year-old male, who presented with a grade ii exertional dyspnea and palpitations. echocardiography revealed an apw with an ascending aorta aneurysm. he underwent surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass without aortic cross-clam...