HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Gregory N. Messner Chayanin Vatcharasiritham Igor Gregoric Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Messner, G. N. Articles by Frazier, O. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Messner, G. N. Articles by Frazier, O. H. Related Collections Mechanical Circulatory Assistance

J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2004;127:259-261
© 2004 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Brief communication

Prosthetic graft remnant–related pseudoaneurysm after left ventricular assist device explantation: A case report

^a Cardiovascular Surgical Research Laboratories, Texas Heart Institute at St Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Tex, USA

Received for publication November 13, 2002; accepted for publication December 16, 2002.

^* Address for reprints: O. H. Frazier, MD, Cardiovascular Surgical Research Laboratories, Texas Heart Institute at St Luke's Episcopal Hospital, PO Box 20345, Houston, TX 77225-0345, USA
knowlin@heart.thi.tmc.edu

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Pseudoaneurysm of the ascending aorta is a rare but severe complication of cardiac surgery. Most cases occur after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and aortic valvular procedures, and many others occur after cardiac transplantation. Thus far, the only reported case of a pseudoaneurysm related to a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a pseudoaneurysm related to the prosthetic graft itself.¹ We report here the first case of a pseudoaneurysm related to LVAD explantation.

Clinical summary

In December 1999, a 47-year-old woman with a history of progressive dyspnea on exertion presented with a syncopal episode. She was admitted to a local hospital, where congestive heart failure was diagnosed. Echocardiography revealed an ejection fraction of 10%. The patient was transferred to St Luke's Episcopal Hospital for further evaluation and treatment. There she underwent placement of an intra-aortic balloon pump, followed by simultaneous implantation of an LVAD (Thoratec VAD; Thoratec Corporation, Pleasanton, Calif) and performance of the Batista procedure. Three months later, in February 2000, the patient's condition had improved to the point that the LVAD could be removed. Immediately after its removal, the patient experienced postoperative bleeding that required mediastinal exploration to control. The patient's sternum was closed 1 day later. The patient did well for almost 1 year, until she complained of a painful swelling of the upper sternum. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the chest showed fluid anterior and posterior to the sternum extending back to the margin of the ascending thoracic aorta, a finding compatible with an abscess. The abscess was incised and drained after achievement of local anesthesia. A culture grown from a sample of the fluid grew methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Intravenous vancomycin was instituted for 1 month. On follow-up . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Arain, R. Bryant III, R. Ameduri, D. Gruenstein, E. Braunlin, L. Joyce, and J. St. Louis Successful Coil Embolization of a Large Ascending Aortic Pseudoaneurysm Following Explantation of the EXCOR Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device in a Patient With Acute Fulminant Myocarditis World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, July 1, 2010; 1(2): 259 - 261. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]