title: Aortic valve replacement through left thoracotomy after esophageal operation.
abstract: A 67-year-old man was referred for aortic valve surgery due to aortic valve regurgitation. He underwent an aortic valve replacement through a left thoracotomy, since he had a history of esophageal surgery with substernal gastric tube reconstruction and lymph node dissection through a right thoracotomy 14 years ago. The aortic valve was successfully replaced with excellent visualization using vacuum-assisted venous drainage on a cardiopulmonary bypass. Although exposing the aortic valve through a left thoracotomy is difficult, the application of vacuum-assisted venous drainage helps visualize the aortic valve in this approach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan. wakasa@med.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wakasa
authors.forename: Tomonori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ooka
authors.forename: Suguru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shiiya
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Murashita
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsui
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000556:secondary; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D013908:Thoracotomy / Q000379:methods*