Isolated Diffuse Supravalvular Aortic Stenosis with Severe Aortic Narrowing in a 41-Year-Old Man

Isolated supravalvular aortic stenosis in adults is a rare form of left ventricular outflow tract obstruction. We describe a case in a 41-year-old man in whom the supravalvular aorta had narrowed to approximately the size of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The patient underwent aortic surgery with replacement of the ascending aorta and repair of supravalvular aortic stenosis with a pantaloon graft. A postoperative echocardiogram showed substantial improvement: the mean gradient across the aorta had fallen from 48 to 8 mmHg. Surgery is the definitive treatment in symptomatic patients with supravalvular aortic stenosis.

Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation in a Patient with Unicuspid Aortic Valve

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) in patients with bicuspid aortic valves has been successfully performed, but there is a lack of published experience in percutaneous treatment of patients with unicuspid valves and severe aortic stenosis. We describe a case of TAVR in such a patient. A 31-year-old woman with Turner syndrome-who had undergone coarctation repair via subclavian flap at age 7 days and an aortic valvotomy at age 6 weeks-presented with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis. She was deemed inoperable because of her severe pulmonary hypertension and numerous comorbidities; consequently, a 20-mm Edwards Sapien 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve was offered for compassionate use. Postdeployment angiography and transesophageal echocardiography and aortography revealed no aortic insufficiency. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement for unicuspid aortic valve stenosis is technically feasible. Before implantation, particular attention should be paid to the interplay between the large single leaflet, coronary ostia, and stented valve, to select the correct size and position of the device. Some degree of intraoperative aortic migration should be anticipated.

Cone Reconstruction of Atypical Ebstein Anomaly Associated with Right Ventricular Apical Hypoplasia

Cone reconstruction for tricuspid valve repair has revolutionized the surgical treatment of Ebstein anomaly. We present the case of a 58-year-old woman with atypical Ebstein anomaly and right ventricular apical hypoplasia who was spared from palliative shunt physiology by our use of cone reconstruction. Compared with other techniques, cone reconstruction of the tricuspid valve more closely replicates normal valvular anatomy and function. This surgical procedure can be applied to many anatomic variations of Ebstein anomaly, as in our patient's apparently unique instance of atypical Ebstein anomaly with right ventricular apical hypoplasia.

Late postoperative prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis in a 13-year-old girl with repaired tetralogy of fallot

Prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis has infrequently been described outside large cohort reviews, which have typically focused on infections of the left-sided heart valves. Hence, the pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and management principles of prosthetic pulmonary valve endocarditis have not been well differentiated from those of infected aortic and mitral valves. More patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot are reaching adulthood and will need pulmonary valve implantation. Consequently, a focus on this infrequent but serious cardiac infection is needed, to learn what characteristics might distinguish it from infections of left-sided heart valves. We report the case of a 13-year-old girl with repaired tetralogy of Fallot who presented with fever and nonspecific symptoms. The patient initially failed to meet the Duke criteria for endocarditis but was then found to have endocarditis of her prosthetic pulmonary valve. We explanted the valve and replaced it with a pulmonary homograft, after which the patient had no infectious sequelae. In addition to presenting the patient's case, we review the literature on surgically inserted prosthetic pulmonary valves and discuss the primary management concerns when those valves become infected with endocarditis.

Isolated interrupted aortic arch in an 18-year-old man

Isolated interrupted aortic arch, a congenital malformation, is very rarely reported in adults. Most adult patients have presented with type A interruption (interruption just beyond the left subclavian artery) and without an associated ventricular septal defect. Conventional surgical repair is typically a challenge because of the extent of collateral circulation in patients who have survived to adulthood. We describe the successful, single-staged, extra-anatomic ventral aortic repair of type A interrupted aortic arch in an 18-year-old man, and we discuss the pathogenesis of the so-called adult form of the condition.

Coronary revascularization in adults with dextrocardia: surgical implications of the anatomic variants

Most reports of coronary artery bypass grafting in adult patients with dextrocardia have focused on the surgeon's position with respect to the operating table. Herein, we describe the cases of 2 patients with dextrocardia who underwent surgery at our own institution, then discuss preoperative evaluation, surgical approaches, and patient outcomes that have been reported in the medical literature. Whereas most patients, including ours, have presented with classic situs inversus totalis and dextrocardia, a few patients have had other associated anomalies or atypical morphologic conditions. Careful imaging, and perhaps cardiac catheterization, is required. Particular attention should be paid to cannulation technique and conduits that can best be used within the altered orientation of the heart. Morbidity rates in these revascularized patients seem comparable with those in coronary artery bypass patients whose coronary anatomy is normal. Anatomic variants in dextrocardia are important from the surgical viewpoint due to the increasing population of patients with repaired congenital heart disease who reach adulthood, and in whom other cardiac defects and abnormalities of cardiac position are common.

Surgical repair of supravalvular aortic stenosis with use of Brom's technique: short-term results in 9 children

There are few published reports of the results of supravalvular aortic stenosis correction with the use of Brom's 3-patch technique. Herein, we report our use of this procedure and the short-term results therefrom.From 2002 through 2007, 9 children underwent surgical correction of localized supravalvular aortic stenosis at our hospital. The patients ranged in age from 5 to 14 years, and 8 had Williams syndrome. All operations were performed by the same surgical team.No clinically significant associated cardiac anomalies were encountered. Each aortic repair involved the use of pericardium, Dacron, or both. One patient had an uncorrected right coronary artery obstruction and died postoperatively of refractory supraventricular tachycardia. In all 8 patients who survived, postoperative transaortic blood pressure gradients were improved (range, 0-16 mmHg), and no repeat operations were needed after 6 to 55 months' follow-up.We consider Brom's technique to be safe in the repair of supravalvular aortic stenosis. In our limited series, it produced effective anatomic restoration, with good short-term and potentially good long-term results.

Mesenteric oxygen desaturation in an infant with congenital heart disease and necrotizing enterocolitis

Congenital heart disease is a risk factor for the development of necrotizing enterocolitis, although the exact mechanism of development remains unclear. Herein, we report the case of an infant with pulmonary atresia, an intact ventricular septum, and multiple aortopulmonary collateral vessels. At 4 weeks of age, the infant developed necrotizing enterocolitis in association with significant mesenteric oxygen desaturation, as measured by means of near-infrared spectroscopy. With bowel rest and antibiotic therapy, the patient's mesenteric oxygen saturation and clinical status improved. This case highlights the importance of impaired mesenteric oxygen delivery consequential to congenital heart disease as a possible risk factor for necrotizing enterocolitis, and the use of near-infrared spectroscopy to measure tissue perfusion noninvasively in high-risk patients. To our knowledge, this is the 1st report of mesenteric oxyhemoglobin desaturation in association with necrotizing enterocolitis in a patient who also had congenital heart disease.

Interruption of aortic arch in adults: surgical experience with extra-anatomic bypass

We reviewed our 3-year experience in treating interruption of the aorta in adult patients. Clinical profiles, surgical management, and results of early and mid-term follow-up are presented. From August 2001 through June 2003, 7 adult patients underwent an extra-anatomic bypass procedure to repair interruption of the aortic arch. Five patients underwent ventral aortic repair through a mid-sternotomy and an upper midline laparotomy, and 2 patients underwent repair through a left posterolateral thoracotomy. A bovine collagen-impregnated polyester fiber graft was used in 6 patients, and a Gore-Tex graft was interposed in 1 patient. All repairs were performed without cardiopulmonary bypass. Follow-up was complete in all patients. The mean follow-up was 1728 +/- 1 months (range, 9-31 months). No neurologic, renal, or gastrointestinal complications were noted in any patient. There was no in-hospital or late mortality or need for re-intervention. All patients were asymptomatic; however, 5 patients had mild residual hypertension. Graft patency in all the patients was confirmed by computed tomographic angiography. Interruption of the aorta is rare in adults. Ventral aortic repair through a midline approach is our preferred technique for surgical repair of this entity, because it avoids the extensive network of collateral vessels on the chest wall, enables simultaneous treatment of associated lesions, and in all likelihood reduces morbidity and mortality.