title: Intra-aortic balloon clamp for safe resternotomy in a patient with a giant aneurysm of sinuses of Valsalva.
abstract: Despite advances in surgical techniques and postoperative medical management, the mortality rates for cardiac reoperations remain high. The risk is most commonly associated with failed resternotomy complicated by fatal injury to the myocardium or its structures. This short case report documents the first use of an endoluminal balloon occlusive device in order to prevent aneurysmal sack damage and coronary vessel injury in a patient with a giant aortic aneurysm after failed aortic surgery. The safe aortic occlusion allowed for closed-chest cardioplegia delivery and subsequent aortic unloading, thus facilitating a difficult but uneventful resternotomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Transplantology, Silesian Center for Heart Diseases, Zabrze, Poland m@sccs.pl m.zembala.jr@sccs.pl.
authors.forename: Michal Oscar
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Zembala
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Transplantology, Silesian Center for Heart Diseases, Zabrze, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Filipiak
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Transplantology, Silesian Center for Heart Diseases, Zabrze, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niklewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Transplantology, Silesian Center for Heart Diseases, Zabrze, Poland.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Przybylski
mesh_terms: D021721:Balloon Occlusion / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006322:Heart Aneurysm / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012086:Reoperation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D012850:Sinus of Valsalva / Q000601:surgery*; D056346:Sternotomy / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
keywords: Aortic operation; Aortic reoperation; Aortic root; Cardiopulmonary bypass; Cardiopulmonary bypass equipment