An aortic root pseudoaneurysm that developed after implantation of a rectus abdominis muscle flap to treat an MRSA mediastinitis: a case report.

Annals of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery : official journal of the Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Asia

PubMedID: 20190716

Fujii T, Watanabe Y, Shiono N, Ozawa T, Hamada S, Masuhara H, Teramoto C, Hara M, Katayanagi T, Sasaki Y, Koyama N. An aortic root pseudoaneurysm that developed after implantation of a rectus abdominis muscle flap to treat an MRSA mediastinitis: a case report. Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2010;16(1):63-6.
The occurrence of mediastinitis following synthetic vascular replacement surgery is still associated with an unfavorable prognosis in the treatment of thoracic aortic diseases. This time we report a Bentall procedure that we re-performed to treat an aortic root pseudoaneurysm, which developed after a postoperative mediastinitis. This followed the first Bentall procedure, which was treated by debridement of the focus of infection, continuous lavage, and a two-step rectus abdominis muscle flap implantation. Implantation of a rectus abdominis muscle flap is effective in controlling infection in the treatment of mediastinitis after heart surgery. However, after synthetic vascular replacement surgeries have been performed to treat aortic diseases, especially after aortic root reconstruction surgery, which puts stress on the anastomotic site, consideration should be given regarding the development of hemorrhages and pseudoaneurysms as a result of infection-induced tissue fragilization.