Surgical treatment of cardiac involvement in Takayasu arteritis.

Cardiac involvement is a serious disorder in Takayasu arteritis. Surgical treatment of aortic root and coronary artery lesions due to Takayasu arteritis has many potential difficulties due to its inflammatory nature. We operated on 15 patients with cardiac involvement stemming from Takayasu arteritis. These patients are classified into 3 groups depending on the clinical diagnosis and surgical procedures employed: coronary artery involvement alone--coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), three patients (group A), aortic regurgitation with intact coronary artery--Aortic valve replacement or modified Bentall's operation, eight patients (group B), and aortic regurgitation with coronary artery involvement g aortic valve replacement or modified Bentall's operation with CABG, (4 patients) (group C). CABG was performed using saphenous vein graft. For aortic valve replacement or replacement of both the aortic valve and ascending aorta, a prosthetic valve or composite graft with Teflon felt flange was fabricated during surgery and treated with fibrin glue before insertion. A double fixation method with reinforcement by a Teflon felt strip was employed for proximal anastomosis of the flanged prosthesis. A button-shaped coronary ostium was directly anastomosed to the composite graft. There was no operative or hospital mortality. One patient died of brain abscess at 6 months after surgery and another patient with CABG required a second operation due to graft failure. Steroid therapy is recommended in cases diagnosed as being in an active stage until the inflammatory signs disappear.