Abstract
From February 1985 to February 1993, 18 operations were performed in 17 patients for treatment of aneurysmal disease [n=12] and/or dissection of the ascending aorta [n=6]. The ages ranged from 26 to 69 years [mean 44.3 $\pm$ 11.0 years].The proposed operations include composite graft replacement of aortic valve and ascending aorta with coronary reimplantation in 11, graft replacement of ascending aorta alone in 5, aortic valve replacement and supracoronary graft replacement in 1 and ascending aorta to abdominal aorta bypass with thromboexclusion of descending aorta in one patient. Both Bentall [n=6] and Cabrol [n=5] technique were utilized for reimplantation of coronary arteries.Concomitant replacement of aortic arch and arch vessel reconstruction was necessary in two patients. Hypothermic circulatory arrest was utilized in 6 patients. Recently, four patients were managed on warm blood continuous cardioplegia via retrograde route. There were no operative deaths. No significant postoperative complications were noted. Postoperative follow up was complete in 15 patients from 1 month to 72 months. Redo operation was necessary in one patient who had suffered from distal recurrence of dissection 5 years after successful Bentall operation. The other patients are all in excellent clinical condition. From our early experience with those 17 cases, we assume that satisfactory operative result could be achieved with a variety of surgical technique including hypothermic circulatory arrest. In addition, continuous perfusion of warm blood cardioplegia via retrograde route is supposed to be beneficial in selected cases.