Findings of Transesophageal Echocardiographic Images in Placing the Coronary Sinus Perfusion Catheter

In retrograde cardioplegia (RCP), some difficulty is occasionally encountered when inserting a catheter into the coronary sinus (CS). Although the usefulness of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for guiding the cannulation procedures has been previously reported by other authors, we have obtained additional findings by TEE monitoring of eleven patients during placement of the CS catheter. The diameter of the CS ranged from 5.5 to 10.7 mm, indicating that it was large enough for the CS catheter to be inserted and that the resistance at insertion was not due to narrow CS. The precise time for inserting the catheter, for which myocardial protection is delayed, ranged from 8 to 376 seconds, with an average of 98 seconds. Dislodgement of the catheter was found in two cases. In case of difficult cannulation, the catheter tip was found to be pushing the right atrial wall adjacent to the CS orifice or alternatively it entered the middle cardiac vein which had a common atrial orifice with the CS in this particular case. We found that the knowing the following technical problems helps appropriate monitoring: the catheter tip becomes unclear when it is not perpendicular to the ultrasonic beam, when surgeon's fingers are placed behind the heart, or when the blood is entirely exsanguinated. Finally we present the possibility of employing images of overflow out of CS during RCP infusion, detected by TEE, as an index of efficient perfusion at the interventricular septum

A Rare Case Oesophageal Perforation by a Fish Bone, Leading to Pericardial Penetration and Cardiac Tamponade

An 82-year-old woman swallowed a fish bone and presented to our hospital 3 days later when she had breathing difficulty and became hypotensive. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed a linear structure with high bone density extending from the oesophagus into the pericardium, along with pericardial effusion, air, and a left pleural effusion. We diagnosed the patient with oesophageal perforation by a foreign body (a fish bone) leading to pericardial penetration, cardiac tamponade, and left empyema. The patient underwent emergency surgery. Pericardial fenestration and drainage of the pericardial and thoracic cavities were performed. Chest CT showed a recurrent abscess cavity in the pericardium on day 6. A pigtail catheter was placed in the recurrent abscess cavity under CT guidance for drainage. The patient gradually improved and was discharged after 5 months

Assessment of a New Silicone Tri-leaflet Valve Seamlessly Assembled with Blood Chamber for a Low-cost Ventricular Assist Device

We have developed a practical, low-cost ventricular assist device (VAD) comprising a newly designed blood chamber with a silicone lenticular sac and two silicone tri-leaflet valves (STV), made en bloc. This new VAD is seamless, can be made cost-effectively and assembled with the blood chamber and valve as one body. This novel design should reduce the incident of thrombus formation because of the absence of a junction at the connecting ring and because of the use of flexible silicone materials which have both antithrombogenecity and biocompatibility. In in vitro hemodynamics testing, a batch of 3 consecutively manufactured V ADs with STV s underwent hydrodynamic functional testing. These showed less regurgitation, a lower value of water hammer phenomenon, and a slightly greater pressure gradient across the valves than a mechanical valve (MV) [Björk-Shiley monostrut valve]. The flow and pulsatile efficiency were adequate and similar to that of a VAD with MVs. In in vitro durability and hemolysis tests, a V AD with STV functioned well for 54 days and showed similar hemolytic profiles to a V AD with MVs. In an in vivo acute experiment using an adult sheep, our device was promblem-free providing sufficient output as a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Although it will be necessary to decrease the pressure gradient across this STV in the future, our device showed efficient performance as a practical and cost-effective V AD for short term use.This work was supported in part by the Tsuchiya Foundation and by a Research Grant for Cardiovascular Diseases (7A-1) from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japa

Abdominal Aorta and Visceral Arteries Visualized by Transgastric Echocardiography : technical considerations

Despite the necessity of information regarding the abdominal aorta and visceral arteries during cardiovascular surgery, there has been no intraoperative modality available. We examined the feasibility and limitations of transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) for this purpose. In 21 consecutive patients, the celiac artery (CEA), superior mesenteric artery (SMA), and left and right renal arteries (LRA, RRA) were examined with TEE, and could be visualized in 21 cases (100%), 20 cases (95.2%), 14 cases (66.7%) and 14 cases (66.7%), respectively. Several attempts were needed for successfully visualizing the LRA and the RRA in 2 and 1 case(s), respectively. Three specific manipulations of the probe were helpful for visualizing these vessels: 1) an appropriate counterclockwise rotation and an upward flexion of the probe when the transducer entered the stomach; 2) a stiffening of the flexible portion of the probe at the position of upward flexion by fixing the handle of the TEE probe when the transducer was advanced; and 3) a lateral flexion of the probe to provide a rotation of the image in either the clockwise or counterclockwise direction and to optimize the assessment of the blood flow velocity in the branch artery. Inferior visualization of the renal arteries was a limitation of this method. Two solutions for this problem were 1) repeated attempts at visualization and 2) an examination of the blood flow in the renal parenchyma with color Doppler imaging. Because of possible damage to the gastric wall, it is recommended that this maneuver be conducted by an experienced sonographer