Objective: The outcomes of emergency surgery for type A acute aortic dissection have improved. However, ascending aortic replacement sometimes leads to dilatation of the distal aorta. The present study reviewed our outcomes of ascending aortic replacement and total arch replacement in patients with type A acute aortic dissection.Methods: A total of 253 patients with type A acute aortic dissection underwent a central repair operation. Our standard technique was ascending aortic replacement. Total arch replacement was performed only when entry existed in the major curvature of the aortic arch and the proximal descending aorta. A total of 169 patients (67%) underwent ascending aortic replacement, and 84 patients (33%) underwent total arch replacement. Hospital death due to initial surgery, dilatation of the distal aorta greater than 5 cm, new occurrence of aortic dissection, any distal aortic surgery, and aortic-related deaths were defined as distal aortic events.Results: The mortality was 7.1% in the ascending aortic replacement group and 6.0% in the total arch replacement group. Postoperative computed tomography was performed in 162 patients in the ascending aortic replacement group. The false lumen of the residual aortic arch had thrombosed and healed in 94 patients (58%) and remained present in 68 patients (42%). The distal aortic event-free rate in the ascending aortic replacement group decreased from 74% at 5 years to 51% at 9 years, and the rate in the total arch replacement group was 83% at 5 to 9 years (P < .01). For the ascending aortic replacement group, more patients with a dissected arch had a distal aortic event compared with patients with a healed arch (P <.01).Conclusions: Total arch replacement was associated with fewer distal aortic events. We may expand the indications for total arch replacement in stable patients.

Coronary malperfusion is one of the most dreadful complications of acute aortic dissection because it causes catastrophic acute myocardial infarction in patients who are already severely ill. Our strategy was as follows. After the administration of heparin, emergency percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was urgently performed at the same time as starting to prepare the operating room. A stent was then placed to cover the full length of dissected coronary artery. Patients whose cardiac function improved after successful coronary artery reperfusion were transferred to the operating room to undergo central repair surgery. If the cardiac function did not recover even after coronary reperfusion, and the patient required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, we considered the best supportive care without performing central repair surgery. In patients with left coronary malperfusion, we believe that preoperative PCI must be performed immediately. Preoperative PCI might delay central repair surgery and potentially increase the risk of catastrophic cardiac tamponade. However, the benefit of PCI in preserving cardiac function exceeds the risk of cardiac tamponade. The indications of PCI before central repair in patients with right coronary malperfusion should be considered after assessing each patient's condition, including the presence or absence of cardiac tamponade and right ventricular infarction, left ventricular function, the immediate availability of cardiologists or cardiac surgeons, and the speed of preparing the operating room.

For the "sandwich technique" via a right ventricular approach to treat post-infarction VSD, the choice of patch size according to VSD size is an important variable for reducing major residual leak.

This is a translation of Jpn J Vasc Surg 2015; 24: 127-134. Objectives: We report the pathophysiology and treatment results of type A acute aortic dissection from our 20-year experience. Methods: We studied 673 patients with type A acute aortic dissection who underwent initial treatment from 1994 through July 2014. We divided these patients into two groups. The former group comprised 448 patients from 1994 through 2008, and the latter group comprised 225 patients from 2009 onward, when the current strategy of initial treatment and surgical technique including the early organ reperfusion therapies were established. Results: Women were significantly often presented than men in patients over 60 years of age. Thrombosed-type dissection accounted for more than half in patients over 70 years, and significantly often complicated pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade than patent type. Malperfusion occurred in 26% of patients. Central repair operations were performed in 579 patients. In-hospital mortality for all patients was 15%, and for the patients who underwent central repair operations was 10%. Former period of operation, malperfusion, and preoperative cardiopulmonary arrest were significant risk factor of in-hospital death. Preoperative left main trunk (LMT) stents were placed in eight patients and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) intervention was performed in five, they were effective to improve the outcome. From 2009 onward, in-hospital mortality was 5.0% and there was no significant risk factor. Conclusion: Surgical results of type A acute aortic dissection were dramatically improved in the past 20 years. Early reperfusion strategy for the patients with malperfusion improved the outcomes. (This article is a translation of Jpn J

Objective Postoperative stroke is a serious unsolved complication after acute type A aortic dissection (ATAAD) repair. We investigated the incidence and risk factors of stroke, and hypothesized that dissection of supra‐aortic vessels is an important risk factor of this morbidity. Methods Between 2012 and 2019, 202 (56% men, median age 68 years) patients with ATAAD underwent surgical repair. Clinical data, image findings, method of circulatory support, and repair technique were retrospectively investigated to explore the risk factor of postoperative stroke. Results Of the 202 patients, operative mortality was 6% and the incidence of postoperative stroke was 12% (n = 25). Brachiocephalic artery (BCA) dissection was associated with a higher risk of stroke (odds ratio, 3.89; 95% confidence interval, 1.104–13.780; p = .035) having no relation to the presence or absence of left common carotid artery dissection. Preoperative malperfusion syndrome, circulatory arrest time, isolated cerebral perfusion time, repair technique (total arch replacement), and femoral artery perfusion alone were not related to the incident rate of postoperative stroke. Stroke occurred in both hemispheres, regardless of the laterality of carotid artery dissection. Conclusion BCA dissection was an independent risk factor of stroke after ATAAD repair.