The Jounral of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery

SURGERY FOR ACQUIRED HEART DISEASE

Midterm results after minimally invasive coronary surgery (LAST operation)
Antonio M. Calafiore, MD, Gabriele Di Giammarco, MD, Giovanni Teodori, MD, Sabina Gallina, MD, Nicola Maddestra, MD, Leonardo Paloscia, MD, Giovanni Scipioni, MD, Teresa Iovino, MD, Marco Contini, MD, and Giuseppe Vitolla, MD, Chieti and Pescara, Italy

Less invasive techniques for mitral valve surgery
Didier F. Loulmet, MD, Alain Carpentier, MD, PhD, Peter W. Cho, MD, Alain Berrebi, MD, Nicola d'Attellis, MD, Conal B. Austin, MD, Jean-Paul Couetil, MD, and Paul Lajos, MD, Paris, France

Short-course thrombolysis as the first line of therapy for cardiac valve thrombosis
Rosa Manteiga, MD, Juan Carlos Souto, MD, Albert Alta Dominguez, MD, Xavier Borras, MD, Francesc Carreras, MD, and Jordi Fountcuberta, MD, PhD, Barcelona, Spain

Systematic clinical and angiographic follow-up of patients undergoing minimally invasive coronary artery bypass
Gianfederico Possati, MD, Mario Gaudino, MD, Francesco Alessandrini, MD, Marco Zimarino, MD, Franco Glieca, MD, and Nicola Luciani, MD, Rome and Gualdo Tadino, Italy

Coronary artery bypass surgery as treatment for ischemic heart failure: The predictive value of viability assessment with quantitative positron emission tomography for symptomatic and functional outcome
Domenico Pagano, FRCS, Jonathan N. Townend, MD, William A. Littler, MD, Richard Horton, MBChB, Paolo G. Camici, MD, FACC, and Robert S. Bonser, FRCS, Birmingham and London, United Kingdom

Partial left ventriculectomy with mitral valve preservation in the treatment of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy
Luiz Felipe P. Moreira, MD, Noedir A. G. Stolf, MD, Edimar A. Bocchi, MD, Fernando Bacal, MD, Maria C. P. Giorgi, MD, José R. Parga, MD, and Adib D. Jatene, MD, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Further evidence of gaseous embolic material in patients with artificial heart valves
D. Georgiadis, MD, R. W. Baumgartner, MD, R. Karatschai, MD, A. Lindner, MD, and H. R. Zerkowski, MD, Halle, Germany, and Zürich, Switzerland

Preliminary report on prediction of spinal cord ischemia in endosvascular stent graft repair of thoracic aortic aneurysm by retrievable stent graft
Shin Ishimaru, MD, Satoshi Kawaguchi, MD, Nobusato Koizumi, MD, Yukio Obitsu, MD, and Mikio Ishikawa, MD, Tokyo, Japan

CARDIAC AND PULMONARY REPLACEMENT

Editorial: Intracoronary adenovirus-mediated transfer of immuno suppressive cytokine genes prolongs allograft survival
R. Morton Bolman III, MD, Minneapolis, Minn.

A novel charcoal-induced model of obliterative bronchiolitis-like lesions: Implications of chronic nonspecific airway inflammation in the development of postransplantation obliterative bronchiolitis
Allan G. L. Lee, MSc, Florian M. Wagner, MD, Moy-Fong Chen, FRCPath, Cyril Serrick, MSc, Adel Giaid, PhD, and Hani Shennib, MD, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

GENERAL THORACIC SURGERY

Massive hiatal hernias: The anatomic basis of repair
Nasser K. Altorki, MD, David Yankelevitz, MD, and David B. Skinner, MD, New York, N.Y.

Operative approach for multiple primary lung carcinomas
Morihito Okada, MD, Noriaki Tsubota, MD, Masahiro Yoshimura, MD, and Yoshifumi Miyamoto, MD, Akashi City, Hyogo, Japan

Neurophysiologic assessment of nerve impairment in posterolateral and muscle-sparing thoracotomy
Fabrizio Benedetti, MD, Sergio Vighetti, PhD, Claudia Ricco, MS, Martina Amanzio, MS, Luciana Bergamasco, PhD, Caterina Casadio, MD, Roberto Cianci, MD, Roberto Giobbe, MD, Alberto Oliaro, MD, Bruno Bergamasco, MD, and Giuliano Maggi, MD, Torino, Italy

SURGERY FOR CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE

Techniques and results in the management of multiple ventricular septal defects
Tetsuya Kitagawa, MD, Lucian A. Durham III, MD, PhD, Ralph S. Mosca, MD, and Edward L. Bove, MD, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Commentary
James E. Lock, MD, Boston, Mass.

A modified repair technique for tricuspid incompetence in Ebstein's anomaly
Roland Hetzer, MD, PhD, Nicole Nagdyman, MD, Peter Ewert, MD, Yu Guo Weng, MD, Vladimir Alexi-Meskhisvili, MD, PhD, Felix Berger, MD, Miralem Pasic, MD, PhD, and Peter E. Lange, MD, PhD, Berlin, Germany

Repair of congenital tracheal stenosis with a free tracheal autograft
Carl L. Backer, MD, Constantine Mavroudis, MD, Michael E. Dunham, MD, and Lauren D. Holinger, MD, Chicago, Ill.

Dipyridamole attenuates rebound pulmonary hypertension after inhaled nitric oxide withdrawal in postoperative congenital heart disease
D. Dunbar Ivy, MD, John P. Kinsella, MD, James W. Ziegler, MD, and Steven H. Abman, MD, Denver, Colo., and Providence, R.I.

Fibrin sealant, aprotinin, and immune response in children undergoing operations for congenital heart disease
Albertus M. Scheule, MD, Wolfram Beierlein, MS, Hans P. Wendel, PhD, Friedrich S. Eckstein, MD, Markus K. Heinemann, MD, and Gerhard Ziemer, MD, Tuebingen, Germany

Esmolol for the management of pediatric hypertension after cardiac operations
Donald B. Wiest, PharmD, Sandra S. Garner, PharmD, Walter E. Uber, PharmD, and Robert M. Sade, MD, Charleston, S.C.

Experimental right ventricle to pulmonary artery discontinuity: Outcome of polyurethane valved conduits
Jacques Robin, MD, Stéphane Martinot, MVD, Alain Curtil, MD, Catherine Vedrinne, MD, François Tronc, MD, Michel Franck, MVD, and Gérard Champsaur, MD, Lyon, France

CARDIOPULMONARY SUPPORT AND PHYSIOLOGY

One hundred patients with the HeartMate left ventricular assist device: Evolving concepts and technology
Patrick M. McCarthy, MD, Nicholas O. Smedira, MD, Rita L. Vargo, RN, Marlene Goormastic, MPH, Robert E. Hobbs, MD, Randall C. Starling, MD, and James B. Young, MD, Cleveland, Ohio

Does simultaneous antegrade/retrograde cardioplegia improve myocardial perfusion in the areas at risk? A magnetic resonance perfusion imaging study in isolated pig hearts
Ganghong Tian, MD, PhD, Jie Shen, PhD, Jiankang Sun, MSc, Bo Xiang, DDS, Godwin I. Oriaku, BSc, Luo Zhezong, MD, Gordon Scarth, PhD, Ray Somorjai, PhD, John K. Saunders, PhD, Tomas A. Salerno, MD, MSc, and Roxanne Deslauriers, PhD, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and Buffalo, N.Y.

The effect of nitric oxide synthase inhibitor on reperfusion injury of the brain under hypothermic circulatory arrest
Daisuke Segawa, MD, Nobuo Hatori, MD, PhD, Hiroshi Yoshizu, MD, Yozo Uriuda, MD, Masafumi Shimizu, MD, and Susumu Tanaka, MD, Saitama, Japan

L-Arginine, a nitric oxide precursor, attenuates ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate
Tomohiro Mizuno, MD, Masazumi Watanabe, MD, Tohru Sakamoto, MD, and Makoto Sunamori, MD, Tokyo, Japan

Microhemodynamics and leukocyte sequestration after pulmonary ischemia and reperfusion in rabbits
Gerhard E. H. Kuhnle, Hermann Reichenspurner, Thomas Lange, Florian Wagner, Joachim Groh, Konrad Messmer, and Alwin E. Goetz, Munich, Germany

BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS

Abdominal aorta and visceral arteries visualized with transesophageal echocardiography during operations on the aorta
Kazumasa Orihashi, MD, Yuichiro Matsuura, MD, Taijiro Sueda, MD, Hiroo Shikata, MD, Satoru Morita, MD, Shinji Hirai, MD, Masafumi Sueshiro, MD, and Kenji Okada, MD, Hiroshima, Japan

Delayed iatrogenic aortic dissection from coronary bypass managed with extraanatomic bypass
Dean Pappas, MD, George L. Hines, MD, Mark Gennaro, MD, and Alan Hartman, MD, Mineola and Stony Brook, N.Y.

Biphasic release of secretory phospholipase A during and after cardiopulmonary bypass
Peter Bruins, MD, Henk te Velthuis, PhD, Piet G. M. Jansen, MD, PhD, Leon Eijsman, MD, PhD, and C. Erik Hack, MD, PhD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Synchronous patent foramen ovale and bronchopleural fistula after rigft pneumonectomy: Nonoperative management with survival
K. Adam Lee, MD, and A. Alan Conlan, MD, Worcester, Mass.

Influence of low-intensity anticoagulation and low-dose antiplatelet agent on coagulation-fibrinolysis system after mechanical prosthetic valve replacement
Yukinori Moriyama, Kazuo Nakamura, Hiroko Kariyazono, Hitoshi Toyohira, and Akira Taira, Kagoshima City, Japan

Assessment of long-term left internal thoracic artery graft patency by exercise Doppler echocardiography
Yuki Yoshida, MT, Masatoshi Fujita, MD, Yasuki Kihara, MD, Shigeru Kubo, MT, Terumitsu Tanaka, MD, Tomoyuki Iwase, MD, Shun-ichi Tamaki, MD, Tatsuro Sato, MD, Chang-Hee Park, MD, and Ario Yamazato, MD, Kyoto, Japan

Axillocoronary bypass for severely atherosclerotic aorta in coronary artery bypass grafting
Johannes Bonatti, MD, Herbert Hangler, MD, Herwig Antretter, MD, and Ludwig C. Müller, MD, Innsbruck, Austria

Thoracoscopic approach for biopsy of the latissimus dorsi cardiomyo plasty wrap
Melissa A. Bochner, MBBS, FRACS, Regina Crameri, BAppSc(Hons), Yi Fei Huang, MD, PhD, Osamu Kawaguchi, MD, PhD, Russell Carrington, BAppSc, Christopher Horam, CertAnTech, Peter Brady, MBBS, FRACS, and Stephen N. Hunyor, MBBS, MTM, FRACP, FACC, St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Should the anticalcification effect of epoxy compound in vascular bioprostheses be judged after implantation in mongrel dogs?
Yoshikazu Goto, MD, Akita, Japan

Reply
Yukio Ichikawa, MD, PhD, and Yasuharu Noishiki, MD, PhD, Yokohama, Japan

Early failure of freehand aortic stentless xenograft valves
Mark F. O'Brien, FRACS, FRCS, Brisbane, Australia

Reply
Giovanni Battista Luciani, MD, Paolo Bertolini, MD, and Alessandro Mazzucco, MD, Verona, Italy

Minimally invasive coronary artery surgery
Raul Garcia Rinaldi, MD, Ernesto R. Soltero, MD, and Jorge Carballido, MD, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Right heart bypass with an extracardiac conduit: A cautionary tale!
Christopher Lincoln, FRCS, London, United Kingdom

EVENTS OF INTEREST

Events

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

968The American Association for Thoracic Surgery Graham Traveling Fellowship, 1999-2000

969The American Association for Thoracic Surgery Second Edward D. Churchill Research Scholarship, 1999-2001

969The American Association for Thoracic Surgery International Traveling Fellowship

970The American Association for Thoracic Surgery-Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation Fellowship

970Announcement of 1998 Annual Meetining

The Western Thoracic Surgical Association

972Annual meeting notes

973Announcement of 1998 Annual Meeting

The American Board of Thoracic Surgery

974Notices

The Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education

975Award Recipients