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Purpose: We evaluated the outcomes of open heart surgery and long-term quality of life for patients 85 years and older., Methods: We enrolled 46 patients 85 years and older who underwent cardiac and thoracic aortic surgery between May 1999 and November 2012. Long-term assessment was performed for 43 patients; three patients who died in the hospital were excluded. Patient conditions were assessed before surgery, 6 months and 12 months after surgery, and during the late period regarding the need for nursing care, degree of independent living, and living willingness., Results: Three patients (6.5%) died during hospitalization and 22 (51%) died during the follow-up period. The 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates were 74%, 49%, and 36%. During the late period, of 21 surviving patients, 18 patients (85%) were living at home. The need for nursing care was comparable before and after surgery. The degree of independent living decreased after surgery. Living willingness was similar before and after surgery., Conclusion: Among patients 85 years or older who underwent open heart surgery, 85% were living at home. All patients could perform activities of daily living without any assistance while maintaining living willingness.

Among cardiac calcified amorphous tumors, the mitral annular calcification-related calcified amorphous tumor is extremely rare. We herein describe 3 surgical cases of swinging calcified amorphous tumor with related mitral annular calcification. The clinical, echocardiographic, and pathophysiologic features are reported here together with a brief review of the literature., (Copyright © 2016 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Accessory mitral valve (AMV) tissue is a congenital anomaly that occurs in association with other congenital anomalies, and is an uncommon cause of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. It is usually detected in early childhood when accompanied by symptoms of obstruction of the left ventricular outflow tract, and is rarely diagnosed in adults. We present a case of a 53-year-old man who was referred to our institution for evaluation of a systolic heart murmur. Echocardiography disclosed a diagnosis of AMV tissue. This case was uncommon because of the lack of severe obstruction of left ventricular outflow, cardiac symptoms, or other cardiac anomalies. We were able to carry out surgical resection of AMV tissue to avert possible progression of aortic insufficiency and the risk of a cerebrovascular embolization. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful, and postoperative echocardiography showed no residual accessory mitral tissue.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of carperitide in maintaining renal function during intraoperative and postoperative management of patients with renal dysfunction undergoing elective cardiovascular surgery., Methods: The subjects were 88 patients with a preoperative serum creatinine level ≥1.2 mg/dl who underwent elective cardiovascular surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass. They were prospectively divided into a group that received carperitide from the start of surgery (carperitide group, n = 44) and a group that was not given carperitide (control group, n = 44). Carperitide infusion was initiated at the beginning of surgery and was continued for ≥5 days, with the central dose being 0.02 g/kg/min. The primary endpoint was the serum creatinine level on postoperative day (POD) 3., Results: The serum creatinine levels on PODs 3, 4, and 7 were significantly lower, and creatinine clearance on PODs 2 and 3 was significantly higher in the carperitide group than in the controls. One patient in the control group and no patient in the carperitide group required continuous hemodiafiltration, but the difference was not statistically significant., Conclusion: Continuous low-dose infusion of carperitide from the start of cardiovascular surgery maintained renal function in patients with preoperative renal dysfunction.

A 35-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with prolonged high-grade fever. Chest computed tomography revealed multiple pulmonary infiltrations in both lungs, suggesting septic emboli. Echocardiography revealed patent ductus arteriosus and mobile large vegetations in the pulmonary artery. Because of uncontrollable infection and the imminent possibility of massive pulmonary embolism, he underwent transpulmonary surgical closure of the ductus and resection of the vegetations under hypothermic circulatory arrest using cardiopulmonary bypass. We report a rare case of open heart surgery in a patient with pulmonary infective endarteritis associated with patent ductus arteriosus.

A 46-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of progressive exertional dyspnea and occasional premature ventricular contraction. An enhanced computed tomographic scan revealed partial defect of the left ventricular myocardium and prominent trabecular meshwork at the same thin-wall segment. She underwent resection and endoventricular patch plasty using cardiopulmonary bypass. Histopathologic examination showed transmural fibro-fatty replacement of the myocardium, with an extremely thickened endocardium. Here we report an extremely rare case of surgery in a patient with arrhythmogenic left ventricular cardiomyopathy associated with left ventricular noncompaction., (Copyright © 2010 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Ventricular septal perforation (VSP) is a rare but life-threatening complication of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Even with assisted circulation heart failure often progresses quickly, and urgent surgical intervention is required to close the VSP. For several years, we have been performing a double patch closure technique using an equine pericardial patch. In this report, we present details of our patch closure technique and the VSP surgical results; we also examine the problems we encountered., Methods: The present study was a review of nine patients who underwent our patch closure of VSP secondary to AMI. We used a large double-layered equine pericardial patch to close the VSP and did not exclude the infarction area from the left ventricular cavity. No necrotic myocardium was excised to avoid simultaneous excision of stunned myocardium., Results: No patients died within 30 days of the surgery, and there were no in-hospital deaths. Over a mean clinical follow-up period of 4.5 years, no residual shunts were detected, and all patients were alive and had New York Heart Association functional class II., Conclusion: Our patch closure technique was effective for closing VSPs securely. The operating times and cardiopulmonary bypass times were short, and blood loss was minimal. Our patch closure technique may improve the prognosis of VSP.

Objective: In order to treat ischemic cardiomyopathy, which is defined as non-aneurysmal diffuse akinetic left ventricle with chronic heart failure following myocardial infarction, the mid-term effect of the endoventricular circular patch plasty (EVCPP) was studied., Materials and Methods: EVCPP has been performed on 54 patients (46 men and eight women with a mean age of 61 years) during 4 years from March 1997 to December 2000. Thirty-two patients (59%) were NYHA class III and 22 patients (41%) were class IV. Nine patients (17%) had mild angina pectoris before the operation but others had no chest pain. Single, double, triple, and left main disease were noted in six, 13, 32, and three patients, respectively. Mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 23.3 +/- 6.3% (6--30%). Coronary artery bypass grafting was concomitantly undergone by 51 patients (94%) and mitral valve reconstruction was done on 19 patients (35%)., Results: Two patients (3.7%) needed an intra-aortic balloon pump to wean from cardiopulmonary bypass. Seven patients (12.9%) died in the hospital. Among them, two patients (4.4%) out of 45 patients who underwent elective operation died of stroke and heart failure. Five patients (55.5%) out of nine patients who required emergency operation died of heart failure and multiorgan failure. Late death occurred in six patients (11.1%) due to arrhythmia and heart failure in each of three patients. Out of 41 survivors, 38 patients returned to NYHA class I or II and three patients to class III. Out of 50 patients who underwent left ventricular study before and after operation, ejection fraction increased from 22.8 +/- 6.6 to 36.2 +/- 8.0% and mean left ventricular end-diastolic volume and left ventricular end-systolic volume indices reduced from 152.8 +/- 24.6 to 105.0 +/- 36.5 and from 113.6 +/- 45.7 to 66.4 +/- 28.4 ml/m(2), respectively. Mean pulmonary wedge pressure decreased from 19.1 +/- 8.8 to 14.9 +/- 6.8 mmHg. One-, 2-, and 3-year actuarial survival rates were 87.9, 82.7 and 77.2%, respectively., Conclusion: Left ventriculoplasty using EVCPP is effective to exclude the akinetic LV segment, and left ventricular function and clinical status improve in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy.

Objective: Human T lymphotropic virus type I infects CD4(+) T cells and affects cell-mediated immunity. Cardiopulmonary bypass transiently alters lymphocyte subsets, resulting in a reduction in CD4(+) T cells and an increase in CD8(+) T cells. We proposed that cardiovascular operations and human T lymphotropic virus type I infection may act synergistically, resulting in serious damage to cell-mediated immunity., Methods: A total of 517 consecutive patients who were preoperatively screened for anti-human T lymphotropic virus type I antibody and underwent cardiovascular operations with cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled in this study. Of the 517 patients, 82 (16%) had positive test results for anti-human T lymphotropic virus type I antibody. The surgical outcome of patients with positive and negative results for anti-human T lymphotropic virus type I antibody was analyzed retrospectively., Results: There was no difference between the 2 groups with respect to early mortality. Distribution of survival curve was also not significantly different (P =.5; mean follow-up duration, 2.4 +/- 1.8 years [range, 0-9.4 years] and 3.2 +/- 2.8 years [range, 0-9.8 years]) in the groups with positive and negative antibody results, respectively). In particular, long-term follow-up did not reveal adult T-cell leukemia or human T lymphotropic virus type I-associated myelopathy, and occurrence of neoplasm did not differ between groups. Early infectious complication was, however, significantly higher in the group with positive antibody results than in the group with negative results (P =.02). Logistic regression analysis revealed human T lymphotropic virus type I infection as a significant risk for this complication (P =.04; odds ratio, 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1. 0-5.8)., Conclusion: A combination of human T lymphotropic virus type I infection and cardiovascular operation is believed to increase the potential risk of infectious complications shortly after the operation. However, this synergistic effect seems to be transient and has little influence on long-term prognosis.

Objective: Preoperative autologous donation of blood has been expanded to cardiac operations in children. However, because of problems such as lack of cooperation and hemodilution during cardiopulmonary bypass, its efficacy in small children is unclear. This study clarifies the clinical significance of preoperative autologous donation of blood in small children., Methods: Thirty-seven patients weighing under 20 kg (age range, 3-9 years; weight range, 13-20 kg) underwent preoperative autologous donation and cardiac operations to treat a simple anomaly. Twenty-five age- and weight-matched patients who were not cooperative or refused preoperative autologous donation served as control subjects. Autologous blood was collected by the simple or leapfrog method and stored as blood components. Each collecting volume was 5 to 10 mL/kg., Results: The donation was performed 6+/-2 times during 50+/-16 days, and the whole storage volume was 48+/-17 mL/kg. There was no serious complication. The minimum hematocrit level negatively correlated with the priming volume of cardiopulmonary bypass (preoperative donation patients: P<.01, r(2) = 0.4; control subjects: P =.5, r (2) = 0.03). Blood loss did not significantly differ between preoperative donation patients and control subjects, and the transfused blood volumes were 43+/-13 mL/kg and 29+/-22 mL/kg, respectively. All of the autologous blood products but fresh frozen plasma were reinfused. Use of homologous blood was significantly less in preoperative donation patients than in control subjects (0% vs 80%, P <.01). In preoperative donation patients postoperative recovery in hemoglobin level was significantly better, which is concurrent with a higher reticulocyte level., Conclusion: Preoperative autologous donation can be performed safely with clinical efficacy, even in children under 20 kg. This can be improved further through coupling with another procedure.

Background: Autologous blood components have been widely introduced in open heart surgery. However, the effectiveness of autologous platelet products remains controversial., Methods: Autologous platelet concentrates (PC) were collected from patients (n = 35) scheduled for primary valvular heart surgery 1 to 3 days before the operation and were transfused immediately after cardiopulmonary bypass. Blood loss and platelet-related factors were compared with the control patients who had no PC (n=35)., Results: There were no serious complications in harvesting, preservation, and transfusion of autologous PC. The maximal platelet aggregation response significantly improved after its transfusion and tended to be higher with autologous PC stored 1 day than with ones stored 2-3 days. Activation of coagulation and fibrinolytic factors did not significantly differ between the groups. Postoperative blood loss was significantly less in autologous PC group, and seemed to have a negative correlation with platelet aggregation response., Conclusions: Autologous PC can be safely prepared and are clinically effective in reduction of postoperative blood loss in open heart surgery.

The effect of additional albumin in crystalloid cardioplegic solution (CS) was investigated for infant with open heart surgery. Patients were divided into two groups; CS containing with or without 1% albumin. CS without albumin was administered for Group-I in 13 patients and CS with albumin for Group-II in 14 patients. The blood samples were collected from radial artery and coronary sinus at 5, 15 and 30 minutes after reperfusion and blood gas analysis, hemoglobin, lactate, creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. In percentage of CK-MB secretion, no significant differences were seen between two groups. However, in oxygen consumption, lactate and MDA secretion, significant differences between the groups were noted at five minutes after reperfusion. In conclusion, additional albumin in CS solution, especially in infant cases was effective for myocardial preservation immediately after reperfusion.

Erythroderma as a manifestation of graft-versus-host disease after cardiac operations with blood transfusion may occur more frequently in Japan than in other countries. We have seen this problem in five patients who, after heart operations, died with symptoms and signs characteristic of graft-versus-host disease: cutaneous eruption, fever, diarrhea, leukopenia associated with agranulocytosis, and liver dysfunction. In the three patients seen most recently, skin biopsy showed findings similar to those of graft-versus-host disease after bone marrow transplantation. In addition, immunologic investigation showed remarkable differences in the findings in these patients and in those who did not have a graft-versus-host disease-like syndrome after cardiac operations. In particular, interleukin-2 production in response to mitogen stimulation was markedly diminished after operation in our patients, and the ratio of OKT4+ cells to OKT8+ cells in peripheral blood was low, reflecting increased numbers of OKT8+ cells after the occurrence of symptoms. The results raise the possibility that transient depression of cellular immunity after cardiac operations with blood transfusion may contribute to the occurrence of postoperative acute graft-versus-host disease.

It has been reported recently that cardiac operations can be followed by a transient impairment of cell-mediated immunity. In this study we examined indices of cell-mediated immunity in patients undergoing cardiac operations. Twenty-five of the patients received erythropoietin (200 U/kg) daily for 2 weeks before and after operation, and 30 matched control patients did not receive erythropoietin. On postoperative day 1, the numbers of total T cells and helper/inducer T cells were significantly higher in erythropoietin-treated patients than in control patients. The ability of patients' cells to make interleukin-2 in vitro increased after erythropoietin injection in the preoperative period. By postoperative day 1, erythropoietin-treated patients exhibited a fall in interleukin-2 production that was significantly less than that in control patients; levels increased by day 2 to a mean value twice that of the preoperative baseline and more than four times the corresponding mean level in the control groups, and levels returned to the baseline range by postoperative day 14. Levels of interleukin-2 production in erythropoietin-treated patients were significantly higher than those in control patients at each interval tested through postoperative day 7. These findings indicate that erythropoietin treatment not only augmented levels of circulating erythrocytes but also improved indices of cell-mediated immunity. Although the mechanism responsible for this effect remains to be determined, the finding suggests that erythropoietin might help to ameliorate or prevent the impairment of immune function that can occur after cardiac operations.

We compared the case like acute GVHD (graft versus host disease) induced by blood transfusion with the cases after open heart surgery which received blood transfusion by the measurement of cell-mediated immunity. Furthermore, we investigated the etiology of GVHD in comparison with cases according to age. Seventy-three cases (under 60 years old: 55 cases, over 60 years old: 18 cases) underwent open heart surgery and the mean blood transfusion volume was 2368cc and the mean age was 52.8 years old. After open heart surgery the rate of peripheral OKT3+ and OKT4+ cells, lymphocyte transformation and IL-2 (interleukin 2 product) were significantly decreased at postoperative day (POD) 1 and recovered to preoperative value until POD 14. However, in the cases like GVHD the rate of OKT4+ cell was decreased in contrast with the change of OKT8+ cell, and lymphocyte transformation and IL-2 production did not recover to normal range postoperatively. In conclusion, in the cases like GVHD the postoperative charge of cell-immunity is similar to the acute GVHD induced after bone marrow transplantation and we must take care about the blood transfusion to the older patients after open heart surgery because there is a possibility that cell-mediated immunity may be more depressed in the elder patient pre and postoperatively.

We investigated the effect to myocardial protection with crystalloid cardioplegic solution (Kurume solution I (S-I)) during open heart surgery in 21 infants less than 3 months old. The mortality was 28.6% (6 cases) including 2 patients having peroperative severe acidosis or shock. It was suggested that about half of them died of inadequate myocardial preservation. Comparing factors in the deaths with the survivors, there were significant differences between them in extracorporeal circulation time (ECCT) (196.7 +/- 50.1 min versus 133.2 +/- 45.8 min, p less than 0.01) and aortic-cross clamping time (ACCT) (120.0 +/- 45.8 min versus 78.3 +/- 30.5 min, p less than 0.05). In survivors, 86.7% of them required the effective dose (more than 6 micrograms/kg/min) of catecholamine and 33.3% presented low cardiac output syndrome (with the dose of more than 10 micrograms/kg/min and more than for 48 hours). The incidence of LOS was related to ECCT and ACCT. Thus it seemed that infant was more susceptible than older patient to the effects of ECC and the operation was carried out safely with ECCT less than 150 minutes and ACCT under age 3 months, it is necessary to use the cardioplegic solution fitting immature myocardium and to design operative technique and assist device for open heart surgery to shorten ECCT and ACCT.

We studied 104 patients after cardiac operations to search for changes in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets, mitogen responsiveness, and interleukin-2 production. Mononuclear cells obtained from 10 patients with cholecystectomy were examined as control samples. Cultures for phytohemagglutinin and interleukin-2 production were incubated in microtiter plates for 24 hours with cells labeled with tritium thymidine used as target cells. Lymphocyte subsets were measured by using monoclonal antibodies. The results obtained with preoperative blood samples were compared with those from the first, third, and seventh days after operation. In patients having cardiac operations, mitogen responsiveness was low on both the first and the seventh days after operation and interleukin-2 production was markedly depressed (greater than 90% depressed) on the first postoperative day. However, in control samples from patients having cholecystectomy, lymphocyte subsets, mitogen responsiveness, and interleukin-2 production showed no significant changes. Improvement in interleukin-2 production occurred immediately in patients without blood transfusion from random donors and reached normal levels by postoperative day 3. However, interleukin-2 production remained depressed on day 3 in all patients with transfusion from random donors and remained significantly diminished even on day 7 in such patients in New York Heart Association classes III and IV. We conclude that heart operations for which cardiopulmonary bypass is used are associated with depression of cellular immunity, including interleukin-2 production. Furthermore, it appears that both blood transfusion from random donors and the general preoperative condition of the patients contribute to suppression of measures of cell-mediated immunity.