Successful beating-heart repair of pulmonary artery dissection using a composite valve-tube graft

Pulmonary artery dissection is rare but highly lethal. Recent reports suggest that surgical repair of pulmonary artery dissection may yield good outcomes in selected patients, although postoperative right ventricular failure and death have been described. Currently, only one patient over age 60 years old has been reported to survive open surgical repair of pulmonary artery dissection. Here, we present the case of a sexagenarian with pulmonary artery hypertension complicated by a dissected pulmonary artery aneurysm which was successfully repaired using a composite valve-tube graft under a beating-heart strategy.

Automated summary

Pulmonary artery dissection, though rare, can be lethal. Surgical repair may yield good outcomes in selected patients, but postoperative right ventricular failure and death are possible. Only one patient over the age of 60 has been reported to survive open surgical repair, using a composite valve-tube graft.