title: Acute type A aortic dissection involving the left main trunk of the coronary artery--a report of two successful cases.
abstract: This report describes 2 cases of a type A acute aortic dissection combined with myocardial infarction caused by a retrograde dissection into the left main trunk of the coronary artery. Successful surgical treatments, including the replacement of the ascending aorta, aortic valve resuspension and coronary artery bypass grafting, were performed in both patients, and they recovered well from cardiogenic shock. However, left ventricular function of both patients remained depressed postoperatively, which limited their quality of life. Because no definite method for salvaging infarcted myocardium has yet been established, either more timely surgery or the preoperative placement of a perfusion catheter in the left main coronary artery is mandatory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Kyushu University Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tomita
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toshima
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kurisu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yasui
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000601:surgery*; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000601:surgery; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000601:surgery