[A case of hemothorax occurred two months after graft replacement of descending thoracic aorta with Hemashield arterial prosthesis].

A 70-year-old man performed graft replacement of descending thoracic aorta for chronic aortic dissection (DeBakey IIIb) with Hemashield arterial prosthesis. He also had coronary artery disease (LAD seg. 7.99% stenosis) and he had received PTCA prior to operation. He was administered anticoagulants such as Aspirin and Warfarin postoperatively. Two months after operation, he complained dyspnea and came back to our hospital. Chest X-ray showed left hemothorax. CT scan and aortogram could not revealed bleeding points such as pseudoanerysm at anastomosis site nor new dissection. He recovered after discontinued anticoagulants and drainage. If you need to use the anticoagulants after graft replacement with Hemashield, you should administer the anticoagulants about 14 days after operation. This is the first clinical report that hemothorax occurred two months after graft replacement with Hemashield.