A 71-year-old woman who was resuscitated from cardiac arrest after pericardial drainage, was admitted to our hospital. Enhanced computed tomography demonstrated pericardial effusion due to rupture of posterior ventricular myocardium. She underwent emergent surgical repair. A 20-mm tear in the extensively necrotic left ventricular posterior wall and active hemorrhage were identified. Sutureless repair using three sheets of TachoSil (CSL Behring, Tokyo, Japan) and fibrin glue was performed. To reduce ventricular pressure to avoid re-rupture and formation of ventricular aneurysm, deep sedation was followed in the intensive care unit for 2 weeks. The patient returned to her normal daily life and is progressing well for more than 5 months after the surgery.

Objective: Although elderly patients undergoing surgery for acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) is increasing, their physical activities are not fully understood. We report the physical activities and surgical outcomes in the elderly patients who underwent ATAAD. Methods: From 2009 to 2019, 103 consecutive patients underwent surgery for ATAAD at our institution. Surgical outcomes along with pre- and postoperative physical activities in 52 elderly patients (≥70 years old) were compared with those in 51 younger patients (<70 years old). Postoperative walking difficulty was defined as taking ≥30 days to regain the ability to walk 200 m postoperatively or as the inability to walk at discharge. Results: It took longer for elderly patients to regain the ability to walk 100 or 200 m postoperatively. ROC analysis revealed the AUC of the duration for walking 200 m postoperatively as a prognostic indicator for late deaths was 0.878, with the highest accuracy at 30 days (sensitivity = 83.3%, specificity = 91.8%). Hospital mortality within 30 days was 3.8%, and 1-, 3-, and 5-years survival rates were 92%, 84.7%, 84.7%, respectively, for elderly patients, with no significant differences between groups. Cox proportional hazard analysis showed postoperative walking difficulty was an independent risk factor for late mortality in all cohorts (P = 0.017). Conclusions: Elderly patients undergoing surgical ATAAD repair showed acceptable surgical outcomes. However, they were more likely to decrease their physical activities postoperatively. Postoperative difficulty in walking was an independent risk factor for the late mortality in patients with ATAAD.

Background and Aim of the Study: Negative impact of prosthesis-patient mismatch (PPM) on long term survival after valve replacement has been reported. However, the effect of PPM after bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement (MVR) has not yet been well examined. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of PPM on late outcomes after bioprosthetic MVR for mitral regurgitation (MR). Methods: A total of 181 patients underwent bioprosthetic MVR between April 2008 and December 2016. After excluding patients with mitral stenosis and those with incomplete data, 128 patients were included in the study. Postoperative transthoracic echocardiography was performed for all patients and the effective orifice area (EOA) was calculated using the pressure half-time method. The effective orifice area index (EOAI) was calculated by the formula: EOA/body surface area (BSA). PPM was defined as a postoperative EOAI ≤ 1.2 cm2/m2. The characteristics and outcomes were compared between the groups. Results: There were 34 patients (26.6%) with PPM and 94 patients (73.4%) without PPM. Although proportion of males and BSA were higher in the PPM group, valve size distributions were similar between the two groups. There were no significant differences in the in-hospital mortality and morbidities. Multivariable analysis showed that PPM was an independent predictor of late mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 3.38; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.69-6.75; p = .001) and death from heart failure (HR 31.03, 95% CI 4.49-214.40, p < .001). Conclusions: PPM after MVR for MR was associated with long-term mortality and death from heart failure.

We report herein successful treatment of a case of acute type A aortic dissection complicated by cardiac tamponade and mesenteric malperfusion. The patient was a 60-year-old man, with back and abdominal pain and in shock, who was transported to our hospital 2 hours after symptom onset. Computed tomography revealed DeBakey type I dissection with massive hemopericardium and obstruction of both the celiac artery and superior mesenteric artery. After emergency pericardiotomy and removal of the hematoma, superior mesenteric artery-external iliac artery bypass was constructed with a vein graft, and this restored mesenteric perfusion. Open distal hemiarch replacement was then performed. The postoperative course was uneventful. Superior mesenteric artery revascularization achieved immediately after release of the cardiac tamponade prevented further mesenteric ischemia and paved the way for the aortic repair.