Purpose: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the health-related quality of life of the patients who underwent mitral valve repair (MvRp) and mitral valve replacement (MVR). Methods: Within the scope of this prospective study design, 56 patients who had mitral valve operation between the years of 2011-2012 were enrolled in the study. 24 (42.8%) of these patients had MVR while 32 (57.1%) of them had MvRp. The health-related quality of life was evaluated according to the Turkey norms of Short Form 36 Quality-Of-Life Measures (SF-36), which were filled in by the patients before and 6 months after the operation. Moreover, preoperative risk factors affecting the quality of life (age, gender, functional capacity, rhythm, hypertension, diabetes, applied surgical method and echocardiographic results) were investigated for all the patients (n = 56) by using independent sample t test analysis. Results: When the pre and postoperative changes were compared between the two groups, it was found out that there were no significant difference between the groups in terms of restraints on physical role functioning (PR), and the social role functioning values (SF) (respectively; p = 0.097, p = 0.105). However, in the comparison of pre-/postoperative changes between the groups, the changes in physical functioning (PF), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (VT) and restraints on emotional role functioning (RE) and mental health (MH) values were found out to be significantly superior in the MvRp group than in the MVR group (respectively; p <0.01, p <0.05, p <0.01, p <0.01, p <0.05 and p <0.01). It was also confirmed that female gender, atrial fibrillation (AFR), and MVR method negatively affected the physical and mental components (respectively; p = 0.033, p = 0.003, p = 0.015). Conclusion: Results of the SF-36 quality of life measures show that quality of life may be better in patients that have had MvRp. It should be considered that the planned surgical treatment method can affect the patient's quality of life, and this effect can indicate the success of the surgical treatment.

Background: Late tamponade after cardiac surgery is a clinically obscure condition presenting significant diagnostic challenges, since it may be difficult to detect using routine imaging studies. This study is aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and contrast-enhanced computerized tomography (cCT) in the diagnosis of late tamponade following open-heart surgery.Methods: A total of 88 patients who underwent reoperation after cardiac surgery with suspected late cardiac tamponade were included in this retrospective study.All the patients had TTE and cCT examinations before reoperation. The diagnostic values of these imaging modalities were investigated using surgically confirmed late tamponade as the standard.Results: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of an optimal cutoff value of greater than 3.1 cm pericardial fluid thickness on cCT images for predicting surgically confirmed late tamponade were 91.4%, 66.6%, 97.4%, 36.3%, and 89.7%, respectively. Accordingly, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of TTE for the diagnosis of late tamponade were 34.1%, 50.0%, 90.3%, 5.2%, and 35.2%, respectively. The cCT provided false-negative results in seven patients (8%), while this figure was 54 (61.4%) for that of TTE.Conclusion: Computerized tomography imaging seems to represent a superior imaging technique in terms of visualizing the intrapericardial fluid collections after cardiac surgery and has the potential to readily diagnose late tamponade and effectively prevent unnecessary morbidity and mortality. K E Y W O R D S cardiac surgery, computerized tomography, late tamponade, transthoracic echocardiography

Single coronary artery anomaly is rarely seen, and although it can present with sudden death, chest pain, arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, or congestive heart failure, it can also be asymptomatic. We describe the case of a 58-year-old man with single coronary artery anomaly in whom the coronary artery stemmed from the left coronary sinus and caused ischemic mitral insufficiency due to left anterior descending artery stenosis. He underwent successful mitral valve repair and coronary bypass.

In addition to pulmonary artery aneurysm, pulmonary artery dissection must also be considered as a complication in cases of patent ductus arteriosus with high pulmonary artery pressure diagnosed in adulthood.

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