Aortic disection

INTRODUCTION: An aneurysm is a focal dilatation of an artery (aorta), involving an increase in diameter of at least 50% as compared to the expected normal diameter (over 3 cm). Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) cause thousands of deaths every year, many of which can be prevented with timely diagnosis and treatment. AAA can be asymptomatic for many years, but in one third of patients whose aneurysm ruptured, the mortality rate is 90%. In the past, palpation of the abdomen was the preferred method for identifyng AAA...

Aortic dissection may be associated with renal disease. The presentation, especially in the later stages of the process, includes proteinuria, hematuria and impairment of renal function. Thus the clinical picture may be confused with glomerulonephritis or hypertension. We present a case of ischemic nephropathy resulting from involvement of the right kidney by an aortic dissection. The pateint presented with the nephrotic syndrome some two and a half months after the probable time when the aortic disection had occurred...

OBJECTIVE: Aortic dissection is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Effective methods to treat aortic disection are now available although these lesions still challenge the cardiovascular surgeon. METHODS: From January 1994 to January 2000. 131 patients with DeBakey I, II type aortic dissection underwent surgical treatment. Operations were performed under cardiopulmonary bypass in 59 patients. Hypothermic circulatory arrest was used in 15 patients...

Spontaneous dissection of the extracranial cervicocephalic arteries occurs most often in the internal carotid artery or vertebral artery. Spontaneous dissection of a common carotid artery is rare, with only nine cases having been reported. A 43-year-old man was hospitalized for sudden onset of motor aphasia and right arm weakness due to spontaneous dissection of a left common carotid artery; no sign of aortic disection was evident on aortogram. The most common causes of dissection of the common carotid artery are the extension of an aortic dissection and the complication in an angiogram with direct puncture; spontaneous dissection being very rare...

OBJECTIVE: More than 2300 clinical papers have been published on the surgical applications of fibrin sealant (FS), with the largest number in the speciality of cardiothoracic surgery. The purpose of this review of the literature was to find and evaluate controlled studies published in the field of cardiothoracic surgery, to clarify the indications and emphasize the benefits of FS available to the practising surgeon. METHODS: A database of the surgical publications of FS was created...

By means of lymph mapping, the prognosis significance of lymph node metastasis in lung cancer was studied in 270 patients who had undergone radical operations--pulmonary resection combined with complete mediastinal lymph node disection, which is used for patients in whom all cancer could thereby be ablated. Mediastinal lymph node metastasis was found in 64 patients, and 12 patients lived 5 years or more (an absolute 5 year survival rate of 18.8 percent). After radical surgery, there was a significant difference between the prognosis for patients who had metastases to the subcrainal lymph nodes as compared to the prognosis for those who did not...