Kato Takayoshi, Umeda Yukio, Azuma Ken-Ichiro, Murakawa Shinji
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Gifu Municipal Hospital, Gifu, Japan.
Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2010 Oct;18(5):479-80. doi: 10.1177/0218492310380118.
A 72-year-old man underwent post-infarction ventricular septal defect repair. Postoperatively, he required prolonged ventilation and could not be weaned from positive-pressure-assisted ventilation because of intractable bilateral pleural effusions. Conservative therapy was ineffective. After instituting pleuroperitoneal shunting, the patient could be weaned easily from a respirator.