The patient was a 31-year-old pregnant woman who gave birth to her first child by vaginal delivery 7 years ago. She was diagnosed with Marfan’s syndrome based on physical findings; however, the condition was not diagnosed before the onset. The patient developed acute aortic dissection at 28 weeks of pregnancy. A cesarean section was first performed to save the patient’s life; then, a total hysterectomy was performed to prevent the risk of postpartum hemorrhage. Furthermore, aortic root replacement was performed using a temporary mechanical valve. The patient and her child have survived without any complications.

We encountered a case of aortic root replacement of a prosthesis-patient mismatch PPM after performing aortic valve replacement AVR with the Björk-Shiley Monostrut BSM valve. The patient was a 55-year-old female. She underwent AVR with a bioprosthesis for the treatment of congenital aortic stenosis at 20 years of age ; AVR was performed again using the BSM valve at 28 years of age. Congestive heart failure gradually worsened, and she was referred to our hospital at 55 years of age, where she was diagnosed with PPM after AVR. Under general anesthesia, standard median resternotomy was performed, and cardiopulmonary bypass was established with right femoral artery and right femoral vein cannulation. Cardiac arrest was achieved with the antegrade application of a cold, crystalloid, cardioplegic solution. The BSM valve was removed, and her annulus was extremely small, measuring less than 19 mm. We performed an aortic root replacement with a 21 mm mechanical valve composite graft because aortic root enlargement was difficult owing to the fragility of her annulus and very severe adhesion surrounding the ascending aorta. The postoperative course was uneventful. Postoperative ultrasonic echocardiography showed reduced transvalvular mean gradients. Although the BSM valve is durable, non-structural valvular deterioration surrounding the implanted BSM valve may occur and should be monitored.

Japan : The objective of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of left atrial appendage LAA amputation during cardiovascular surgery. Fifty-seven patients underwent LAA amputation using a stapler from 2016 to 2017. The presence of remnant LAA was estimated by transesophageal echocardiography TEE. : All LAA amputations were performed with the heart beating, without collapse. Additional amputation for remnant LAA was required in 14 patients. Sutures were needed to control bleeding in 7 patients. There was one case in which the coronary artery ended up being clamped with the LAA. The average duration for LAA amputation was 6.1 3.2 1.5 15.2 min. There were 25 cases with postoperative atrial fibrillation POAF , one case of cerebral infarction without POAF and one case of re-exploration for bleeding. Three patients died during hospitalization.

Werner’s syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder presenting with premature senility. In the present study, we performed minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS)-aortic valve replacement (AVR) on a patient with Werner’s syndrome who presented with aortic stenosis. The patient, a 49-year-old Japanese man, was brought to the emergency room with dyspnea during exercise. On echocardiography, severe aortic stenosis was found and surgery was planned. He had poorly controlled diabetes mellitus and underwent MICS-AVR to avoid the risk of sternal osteomyelitis, which resulted in a good outcome. The aortic valve had sclerotic changes and a genetic disease was suspected based on the onset of aortic stenosis at a young age, characteristic appearance, and various signs of aging. Genetic testing led to the diagnosis of WS.