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Impairment of Venous Drainage Due to Atrial Septal Aneurysm During Open-Heart Surgery
IT IS NOT UNCOMMON to encounter inadequate venous drainage during cardiopulmonary bypass. Some common causes include poor positioning and obstruction of the venous cannula, increased resistance due to the small diameter of the venous cannula, and kinks in the tubing that connects the venous cannula to the venous reservoir. We report a case of atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) impairing venous drainage from a 2-stage venous cannula in right atrium during a routine cardiac surgery case requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).Acute Left Atrial Intramural Wall Dissection After Mitral Valve Replacement
TRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY (TEE) has been used routinely in the diagnosis and follow-up of cardiac pathology. Left atrial (LA) dissection is a rare complication after mitral valve surgery. A case of LA dissection is presented, and the pathology was accurately defined and immediately diagnosed by using intraoperative TEE; the dissection was repaired at the time of surgery. This case highlights the importance of prompt diagnosis of LA dissection using intraoperative TEE, and a second cardiac surgery was avoided.
