Transposition of the great arteries and isolated origin of the sinus node artery

We report the cases of 2 newborns who underwent at 7 days of age an arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries with a rare coronary anomaly: the left and right coronary arteries originated with a single ostium from sinus 1 and the sinus node artery had an isolated origin from sinus 2. The sinus node artery was reimplanted into the new aorta in both patients. Both babies were discharged in sinus rhythm. Preserving the vascularization of the sinus node may avoid the occurrence of postoperative atrial rhythm disturbances. (C) 1998 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

PERICARDIAL DIVERTICULUM WITH UNUSUAL SYMPTOMATOLOGY

A healthy 37 yr old female presented with recurrent right-sided chest pain which spontaneously disappeared. On a chest roentgenogram a lesion in the right cardiophrenic angle was found. Magnetic resonance imaging suggested a cystic structure. During thoracotomy a pericardial diverticulum was found. The pain was probably caused by intermittent volvulus of the diverticulum