ANOTHER APPROACH FOR AORTIC-VALVE REPLACEMENT THROUGH LEFT THORACOTOMY

We report a 54-year-old man with a history of esophagectomy and retros ternal esophagogastric anastomosis for esophageal cancer through right thoracotomy in whom cardiac failure developed due to aortic regurgita tion. He underwent aortic valve replacement through a left thoracotomy with division of two great arteries and their strong traction toward the surgeon by stay sutures. He has been well for 3 years postoperativ ely in New York Heart Association class I.