Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive technique used to assess regional gas distribution in the lung. We experienced a patient with acute cor pulmonale during high positive-pressure ventilation for the treatment of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome. Prone positioning was beneficial for unloading the right ventricle for treatment of acute cor pulmonale. EIT played a role in detecting lung derecruitment at the patient’s bedside. Impedance distribution in ventral, mid-ventral, mid-dorsal, and dorsal layers before and 20 min after the start of prone positioning was 9, 48, 44, and 0 %, and 10, 25, 48, and 16 %, respectively. Lung recruitment monitored by EIT paralleled the improvement of PaO2/FIO2 from 123 to 239 mmHg. Timing of termination of prone positioning and ventilator settings such as lowering positive end-expiration pressure was determined to maintain dorsal recruitment as seen by EIT. The patient was weaned from mechanical ventilation on day 32 and discharged on day 200. EIT assessed the effects of prone positioning with real-time dynamic imaging and guided less injurious mechanical ventilation in a patient with acute cor pulmonale with dorsal lung derecruitment.

A 69-year-old woman was admitted with severe hypertension and intermittent claudication. The results of further examination, showed that the hypertension and intermittent claudication were due to stenosis of the descending aorta and we diagnosed atypical aortic coarctation. We performed median sternotomy and ventrotomy with side-to-end anastomosis a woven Dacron graft and the ascending aorta. The graft was passed through the lesser omentum, and mesocolon and to abdominal aorta. The postoperative state was stable, and the hypertension and intermittent claudication were remarkably ameliorated. Many cases of extra-anatomical bypass were reported, and the ascending aorta-abdominal aorta bypass was useful method and, very successful with no complications in this case.

No abstract

No abstract

A 72-year-old man presented with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and was referred to our hospital by his physician. A computed tomography revealed a 95-mm AAA with three right renal arteries.The main right renal artery branched from the AAA, and two remaining arteries branched from the same level as the left renal artery. The patient underwent AAA repair and main right renal artery reconstruction without any renal protection. After the operation, renal function did not deteriorate.3D-CT was useful for diagnosing renal artery branching, evaluation of renal blood perfusion, and determining the operation method.Jpn. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 34: 425-428 (2005)