NPWT and tissue flaps may be favourable factors associated with reduced in-hospital mortality attributable to DSWI. NPWT as a bridge therapy to tissue flaps may play a major role in treating DSWI and improve the prognosis for patients with MRSA-infected DSWI.

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Background:The issue of whether functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) should be repaired at the time of mitral valve surgery is controversial, and the long-term durability of tricuspid valve (TV) annuloplasty remains unknown. Methods and Results:We retrospectively reviewed 654 patients who underwent mitral valve repair for degenerative mitral regurgitation between 1991 and 2010. Preoperative TR was classed as mild, trivial or absent in 479 (73.2%) patients, moderate in 125 (19.1%) patients and severe in 50 (7.7%) patients. Concomitant TV annuloplasty was performed in 162 patients (24.8%). The mean follow up duration was 7.5±4.9 years. Postoperative transthoracic echocardiography was performed according to a fixed schedule. The long-term survival rate and freedom from re-admission for congestive heart failure were affected by the severity of TR. Although the durability of ring annuloplasty was excellent up to 10 years after surgery, the mean TR grade started to increase after 10 years. Sixteen out of 492 patients who did not undergo TV annuloplasty (3.2%) revealed progression to severe TR. Preoperative atrial fibrillation (odds ratio (OR), 4.85; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.38-17.1; P=0.014) and preoperative TR grade (OR, 5.16; 95% CI, 1.78-14.9; P=0.003) were predictors for progression to severe TR. Conclusions:Aggressive treatment with concomitant TV annuloplasty should be advocated in cases with atrial fibrillation and more than moderate TR. (Circ J 2013; 77: 2288 -2294

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OBJECTIVES Cases in which the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) runs close to the mitral annulus are considered high risk for LCX injury during mitral surgery. We investigated the anatomical relationship between the LCX and the mitral annulus using 3-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT). METHODS We constructed 3D-CT images of the LCX and the mitral annulus before surgery in 122 patients with mitral regurgitation (MR). We classified coronary dominance by 3D-CT and MR aetiologies (degenerative, atrial functional MR, ventricular functional MR and Barlow’s disease) using echocardiography. We detected the point on the mitral annulus closest to the LCX (X point) and measured the minimum distance from the LCX to the mitral annulus (mCAD). We judged whether atrioventricular disjunction existed using CT. We also investigated the factors affecting mCAD and examined how coronary dominance and MR aetiologies relate to the location of the X point. RESULTS The median mCAD was 4.2 mm (range 0.9–11.4 mm). Considering coronary dominance and MR aetiologies, mCAD was shorter in patients with left coronary dominance and Barlow’s disease. The X point mostly existed on the lateral side of the posterior annulus, but it sometimes existed on the medial side. Multiple regression revealed left dominance and mitral annular disjunction as significant factors affecting mCAD (P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The anatomical relationship between the LCX and the mitral annulus can be recognized using superimposed 3D-CT images. This approach is useful to avoid LCX injury in mitral valve surgery since the X point varies between patients.