Abstract: Intravenous leiomyomatosis (IVL) is a rare kind of uterine myoma. It is a benign smooth muscle tumor with invading growth pattern. The tumor extends into venous channels, but rarely invades tissues. It grows along the refluxing direction of the venous channels, uterine vein, ovarian vein, and beyond the uterus, extends into the inferior vena cava till the right atrium or pulmonary arteries, resulting in intracardiac leiomyomatosis (ICL). At present, the tumor can be detected by ultrasonic waves, computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The main ICL therapy is surgery which is divided into onestage operation and twostage operation in which the key is the complete tumor excision. Most sufferers have a good prognosis, but there are possibilities of recurrence. Missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis are not uncommon, because the disease is rare with hided and diversified clinical manifestations. It is fatal without special characteristics. For a better understanding of ICL, the recent research and treatment of ICL are reviewed.
Objective To summarize the experiences of surgical treatment for periprosthetic leakage(PPL). Methods A total of 63 patients with PPL (mitral PPL in 34, aortic PPL in 29), age 41±12 years, underwent reoperation with prosthetic valve replacement from Dec. 1980 to Dec. 2005 in this department. Patient characteristics, operative profiles and follow-up data were described and analyzed in detail. Results The perioperative complications occurred in 11 patients (17.5%), five of whom died (the overall hospital mortality: 7.9%). Fifty-five patients were in close follow-up and three of them lost in that period, five patients died in late. Fifty patients long-term survivals were in New York Heart Association class Ⅰ-Ⅱ and follow-up evaluation by echocardiography showed no evidence of recurrence or residual PPL and PPL-related complications. Conclusion More attention should be paid to the study on etiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic methods, and clinical classification of PPL. For patients with PPL, reoperation with prosthetic valve replacement is considerably effective and can obtain an acceptable longterm results.