Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery

BACKGROUND: Kommerell's aneurysm is a saccular or fusiform dilatation found in 3-8% of Kommerell's diverticulum cases. A non-dissecting rupture rate of 6% has been reported. If ruptured, emergent surgical correction is usually granted. However, evidence regarding the optimal surgical approach in this acute setting is scarce. In this case report series, we aim to describe our experience managing type-1 non-dissecting ruptured Kommerell's aneurysm with hybrid emergent surgical approaches...

OBJECTIVE: Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) is a common pathogen for pediatric pneumonia and leads to severe lung injury. This study is conducted to analyze the role of F-box and leucine rich repeat protein 19 (FBXL19) in Spn-induced lung injury in immature mice. METHODS: Immature mice were infected with Spn to record the survival rates and bacterial loads in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Levels of FBXL19 and FOXM1 in lung tissues were determined via real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction or Western blotting...

BACKGROUND: To investigate the nutritional status of patients with aortic dissection (AD) treated with using 3D printing-assisted stent graft fenestration and explore the important factors affecting the nutrition status of patients with different numbers of fenestrations (holes). METHODS: Ninety-nine hospitalized patients with AD in a grade A tertiary hospital in Nanjing from January 2020 to December 2020 were selected as the study subjects. According to the different number of fenestrations, the patients were divided into four groups: one fenestration (group A), two fenestrations (group B), three fenestrations (group C) and four fenestrations (group D); and the nutrition status of patients in the four groups was analyzed...

OBJECTIVES: Neoadjuvant therapy and minimally invasive esophagectomy (MIE) are widely used in the comprehensive treatment of esophageal cancer. This study aimed to investigate the advantages of MIE for esophageal cancer after neoadjuvant therapy. METHODS: Published clinical studies were reviewed and survival data and safety data were extracted. We compared the long-term survival and safety of MIE versus open esophagectomy after neoadjuvant surgery in a series of meta-analyses...

BACKGROUND: We discuss a rare case of an adult patient with different pathologies involving the aortic and pulmonary valves in need of surgery. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient had a history of congenital PV stenosis and surgical valvuloplasty. Almost 50 years later the patient underwent a complex second heart surgery due to infective endocarditis of the aortic valve and high-grade restenosis of the pulmonary valve. Replacement of the aortic and pulmonary valve, as well as reconstruction of the RVOT and closure of a persistent foramen ovale, followed...

BACKGROUND: In the post-intubation period, laryngeal edema is one of the most severe complications, which can cause significant morbidity and even death. Herein, we report a case in which we performed a temporary tracheostomy during surgery because of the risk of postoperative laryngeal edema, successfully avoiding post-intubation laryngeal edema complications. CASE PRESENTATION: A 78-year-old man underwent surgery for left upper lobe lung cancer. He had a history of chemoradiotherapy for laryngeal cancer, bronchial asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...

PURPOSE: Noninvasive coronary CT angiography (CCTA) was used to retrospectively analyze the characteristics of coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients with thoracic tumors and the impact of the results on clinical surgery decision-making, thus increasing the understanding of perioperative cardiac risk evaluation. METHOD: A total of 779 patients (age 68.6 ± 6.6 years) with thoracic tumor (lung, esophageal, and mediastinal tumor) scheduled for non-cardiac surgery were retrospectively enrolled...

BACKGROUND: To assess relative safety and diagnostic performance of low- and standard-dose computed tomography (CT)-guided biopsy for pulmonary nodules (PNs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a single-center prospective randomized controlled trial (RCT). From June 2020 to December 2020, consecutive patients with PNs were randomly assigned into low- or standard-dose groups. The primary outcome was diagnosis accuracy. The secondary outcomes included technical success, diagnostic yield, operation time, radiation dose, and biopsy-related complications...

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BACKGROUND: Esophageal diverticulum is a rare condition that requires treatment only when symptoms are present. Surgery has been considered to be the only curative option for symptomatic cases. The most popular procedure is diverticulectomy. Clear and intact exposure of the diverticulum's neck is the basis for safe and effective diverticulectomy. CASE PRESENTATION: We herein report a case of a 57 year-old woman with an epiphrenic diverticulum. VATS diverticulectomy was scheduled...

BACKGROUND: Patients infrequently mobilize at the surgical ward after cardiac surgery. Inactivity results in prolonged hospital stay, readmissions and increased cardiovascular mortality. Next, the course of in-hospital mobilization activities for patients is unclear. The aim was to evaluate early mobilization after heart surgery with a mobilization poster on the Activity Classification Guide for Inpatient Activities score from the American College for Sports Medicine (ACSM). Second, to develop a Thorax Centrum Twente (TCT) score to assess distinctive activities performed...

BACKGROUND: Pump exchange surgery of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) has been demonstrated in several studies; however, information for Asian patients was limited. CASE PRESENTATION: A 63-year-old man underwent a pump upgrade from HeartMate II to HeartMate 3 for driveline damage through limited left anterior thoracotomy and lower partial sternotomy. He did not experience any hemodynamic adverse events or device malfunction during postoperative follow-ups of 12 months...

A 5-month-old girl, weighing 5.3 kg, diagnosed ALCAPA underwent emergency surgery. The left coronary artery (LCA) originated from the posterior pulmonary artery (PA), and the left main trunk (LMT) was very short (1.5 mm), with moderate level of mitral valve regurgitation (MR). The distance from the origin to the pulmonary valve (Pv) was also short. A free extension conduit was created using adjacent sinus Valsalva flaps and implanted in the ascending aorta to avoid distortion of the coronary artery and the Pv...

BACKGROUND: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked muscular disease which is caused by the absence of dystrophin. Troponin elevation with acute chest pain may indicate acute myocardial injury in these patients. We report a case of DMD that presented with ACP and troponin elevation, who was diagnosed with acute myocardial injury, and successfully treated with corticosteroids. CASE PRESENTATION: A 9-year-old with DMD was admitted to the emergency department with the complaint of acute chest pain...

Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) are rare mesenchymal pleural neoplasms with an overall good prognosis and low recurrence rate if completely resected and if degree of differentiation is favorable. Within the last decade, advances in research have led to more reliable methods of differentiating SFTs from other soft tissue tumors. Historically, several markers were used to distinguish SFTs from similar tumors, but these markers had poor specificity. Recent evidence showed NAB2-STAT6 fusion gene to be a distinct feature of SFTs with 100% specificity and sensitivity...

BACKGROUND: Tracheobronchial foreign body is uncommon in adults. Among foreign body aspirations, tooth and dental prosthesis aspiration is a very rare condition. In the literature, dental aspiration is generally found as a case report and there is no single-center case series. In this study, we aimed to present our clinical experience in 15 cases with tooth and dental prosthesis aspiration. METHODS: Data from 693 patients who presented to our hospital for foreign body aspiration between the years 2006 and 2022 were analyzed retrospectively...

BACKGROUND: To evaluate postoperative clinical outcomes and analyze influencing factors for patients with thymic epithelial tumors over 3 years after operation. METHODS: Patients with thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) who underwent surgical treatment in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Beijing Hospital from January 2011 to May 2019 were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Basic patient information, clinical, pathological, and perioperative data were collected...

BACKGROUND: Concomitant tricuspid repair in MR surgery is indicated in patients with severa tricuspid regurgitation, however, concomitant repair in less-than-severe TR patients is still a matter of debate. METHODS: In December 2021, we systematically searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases for randomised control trials (RCTs) comparing isolated MR surgery versus MR surgery with concomitant TR annuloplasty. Four studies were included, resulting in 651 patients (323 in the prophylactic tricuspid intervention group and 328 in the no tricuspid intervention group)...

BACKGROUND: Left atrial dissection is a rare and a potentially fatal complication of cardiac surgery. Multi-modal imagery is helpful for the diagnosis and to guide the treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 66-year-old female patient who underwent a combined mitral and aortic valve replacement for degenerative valvular disease. She presented an infectious endocarditis revealed by a third-degree atrioventricular bloc and had a redo mitral- and aortic valve replacement...

Thoracic aortic pseudoaneurysm caused by Brucella melitensis is extremely rare with extremely few cases reported to date. Herein, we present the case of a 65 year-old man with a huge pseudoaneurysm of the proximal descending thoracic aorta, involving the left subclavian artery and distal arch. Surgery was performed to replace the proximal descending aorta with a self-made bovine pericardial duct and the left subclavian artery with a 10 mm artificial vessel under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest; the patient recovered uneventfully...