Robotic mitral valve plasty for mitral regurgitation after blunt chest trauma in Barlow's disease

We successfully treated a case of mitral regurgitation due to chest trauma in Barlow's disease. A 71‐year‐old man was admitted with severe mitral regurgitation after blunt compression of the chest by a heavy object 5 months earlier. Preoperative examination revealed wide chordae tendineae rupture and myxomatous changes to the bileaflets. Neo‐chordae reconstruction of the anterior mitral leaflet using loop technique, triangular resection of the posterior mitral leaflet, and ring annuloplasty was performed via surgical robot. Robotic mitral valve plasty for severe mitral regurgitation due to chest trauma in Barlow's disease was achieved safely with good clinical and excellent cosmetic results.     

Changes in left ventricular dimensions after pulmonary artery banding and Jatene operation in children with complete transposition of the great arteries. Echocardiographic study

Echocardiographic left ventricular (LV) dimensions in patients with complete transposition of the great arteries (TGA's) were measured before and after the Jatene procedure and/or pulmonary artery banding (PAB). The LV posterior wall thickness at end-diastole (LVPWTD) increased from 3.5 +/- 0.4 to 4.9 +/- 0.9 mm (mean +/- 1SD) (p less than 0.01) after PAB, but it did not show a significant change following the Jatene procedure (from 4.5 +/- 1.0 to 5.3 +/- 0.8 mm). The LV end-diastolic internal dimension (LVIDD) increased from 17.7 +/- 4.0 to 22.6 +/- 6.5 mm after PAB (p less than 0.01), but remained unchanged after the Jatene procedure (from 24.5 +/- 5.0 to 25.0 +/- 3.0 mm). The LV shortening fraction (LVSF) decreased from 0.62 +/- 0.10 to 0.47 +/- 0.14 after PAB (p less than 0.01), but remained unchanged after the Jatene procedure (0.40 +/- 0.10 to 0.37 +/- 0.10). the a/b ratio at end-systole: (a/b)s, which indicates the flatness of the LV configuration, increased from 0.27 +/- 0.14 to 0.60 +/- 0.21 after PAB (p less than 0.01) and from 0.61 +/- 0.13 to 0.74 +/- 0.17 after the Jatene procedure (p less than 0.01). The data obtained became stable 1 month after operation. One patient died of low cardiac output with no evidence of myocardial infarction after the Jatene procedure. In this patient, LVPWTD was 5.7 mm, LVIDD was 26 mm, LVSF was 0.71 and the (a/b)s ratio was 0.55.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Production of anti-insulin monoclonal antibody and its application to immunoassay of insulin and immunohistochemistry

An unlimited supply of suitable antisera is wanted for immunoassays, analysis of antigenic determinants and precise localization of antigens in biological systems. Therefore, we produced a monoclonal antiporcine insulin antibody by the hybridoma technology and assessed it in comparison with polyclonal antibody. The spleen cells of BALB/c mice immunized against porcine insulin were hybridized with mouse myeloma cells (P3-X63-Ag8-U1). The monoclonal antibody thus generated was shown to have high binding capacity and specificity to porcine insulin in radioimmunoassay. It reacted with human insulin as well, but did not crossreact with other polypeptide hormones produced in the pancreatic islets such as glucagon, somatostatin and pancreatic polypeptide. In immunohistochemistry human and dog islets were stained by this monoclonal antibody. Rat islets were not stained, although they reacted with polyclonal anti-insulin antibody. The insulin of human serum samples measured using the monoclonal antibody was tightly correlated with that using the polyclonal antibody. These observations indicate that our hybridoma-derived monoclonal antibody is useful for immunoassay as well as localization of insulin.     

Bone-destroying candida infection following left ventricular assist device explant

Infections associated with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) constitute an important clinical issue because they are difficult to completely eradicate without removal of the LVAD itself and can sometimes be fatal. We encountered a case of extracorporeal LVAD-related candida infection in a patient who was successfully weaned from LVAD support. Although the patient appeared to have recovered from the infection, the patient was readmitted to our institute due to a relapse of candida infection 9 months after LVAD removal. Although the patient did not demonstrate any systemic sign of infection on admission, computed tomography images clearly showed that the residual apical cuff of the LVAD inflow cannula, which was infected with Candida albicans during the initial admission, resulted in re-infection that involved the chest wall with destruction of the adjacent rib.