| Pseudoaneurysm of the Ascending
Aorta after Cardiovascular Surgery |
(Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Okinawa Prefectural
Naha General Hospital, Okinawa, Japan)
| Tadao Kugai |
Mikio Chibana |
|
|
Pseudoaneurysm of the ascending
aorta is a rare but potentially fatal complication of cardiovascular
surgery. Two cases are described in which a pseudoaneurysm of
the ascending aorta developed and caused profuse intermittent
bleeding through the MRSA infection of the sternotomy wound.
One was a 29-year-old man who had undergone a mitral valve replacement
five months previously. The aneurysm was successfully repaired
with a prosthetic graft patch under deep hypothermia and circulatory
arrest, when a bloodless field was obtained using a handmade
double-balloon catheter. The other patient was a 79-year-old
man who had undergone a graft replacement of the distal aortic
arch four months previously. The possibility of surgical correction
was also considered but was thought to carry too high a risk.
Embolization of the aneurysm was therefore regarded as the only
realistic alternative, but failed, and he died due to aneurysmal
rupture. The importance of the diagnosis process and surgical
and intervascular treatment of pseudoaneurysm of the ascending
aneurysm is described.
Jpn. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 30: 137-139 (2001) |
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