Mediastinal bronchial artery aneurysm is rare but potentially life-threatening, and requires prompt treatment to avert rupture with catastrophic results. A 78-year-old man was referred to our hospital with a benign esophageal tumor, which appeared as an extrinsic, extramucosal filling defect on an esophagogram. Chest computed tomography and selective bronchial arteriography led to a definitive diagnosis of mediastinal bronchial artery aneurysm. Aneurysmectomy and closure of the ostia of both the afferent and efferent bronchial arteries was performed via standard posterolateral thoracotomy. Postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on the seventh postoperative day.

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therapy for chronic myocardial ischemia using platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor in dogs.

The adventitial inversion technique provides an excellent immediate hemostasis and facilitates thrombotic closure of the proximal and the distal false lumen in the treatment for acute type A aortic dissection.

Objective-Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) reportedly promotes endothelial cell migration and induces heme oxygenase (HO)-1 expression. However, its effect on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is poorly understood. In this study, we examined the effect of TP on VSMCs in vitro and in vivo. Methods and Results-Phagemid vector encoding human TP gene was transfected into rat VSMCs, and a clone overexpressing TP was selected (C2). C2 showed a slower migration and proliferation than VSMCs cloned with empty vector (pC) under basal, serum-stimulated, and hypoxic conditions. This decrease in proliferation correlated with TP-induced HO-1 expression and was reversed by inhibitors of either TP or HO activity. Furthermore, in C2, the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (p27 KIP1 ) was much more abundant than in pC, and the cell cycle was arrested at the G1 phase. TP or HO activity inhibitors decreased p27 KIP1 expression in C2 to the level seen in pC. Adventitial TP gene delivery significantly reduced neointimal VSMC migration and neointima formation in balloon-injured rat carotid arteries. Conclusions-TP