부산대학교 도서관

To reduce the time needed for clamping or circulatory arrest (or both) during substitu-tion of a prosthesis for the thoracic aorta, we developed an expandable device that can be used with any commercially available prosthetic graft to enable sutureless aortic anastomosis. Improvements upon a previous version of the device include the use of nickel-titanium alloy (Nitinol) instead of stainless steel. This, together with an improved wire-looping design, now enables continuous control of diameter, even when the de-vice is in contact with blood. A further improvement consists of 4 metallic hooks on the outer surface, which enable firm fixation to the aortic stump. In March 2001, a 47-year-old man was admitted to our institution for evaluation of left upper-lobe bronchogenic adenocarcinoma that had infiltrated the distal aortic arch and upper descending aorta. Re-staging of the neoplasm ruled out distant metastasis. We resected the infiltrated aortic wall en bloc with the upper lobe. The expandable de-vice enabled the distal anastomosis of the aortic prosthesis to be performed easily, in less than 3 minutes. The main advantages of this device are an easier, quicker anasto-mosis and the absolute prevention of suture-line hemorrhage (no suture line). The ex-pandable device overcomes the drawbacks of the intraluminal ringed prosthesis used in the past. (Tex Heart Inst J 2002;29:56-9). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]