Attempts to reconstruct various parts of the heart started even before the beginning of open cardiac surgery. By the late 1950s and early 1960 s several closed and open procedures had already been described. In that era, several surgeons in Europe and the Americas were particularly prompted to develop various techniques of valve re construction because of the lack of acceptable valve prostheses and conduits which have become available subsequently. At that time, several congenital lesions still defied definitive correction, and clinical attempts at left ventricular wall replacement had not yet got under way. A renaissance in different cardiac reconstructive procedures started at the beginning of the 1980s. As the problems relating to valve prostheses became more generally appreciated and the importance of chamber volumes and geometry (atrial or ventricular) was accorded due importance in the long-term follow-up, there was a resurgence of surgical attempts at reconstruction in congenital and acquired cardiac lesions so as to approximate the natural state. At the same time several characteristics of this reconstructive "discipline" became apparent. First, cardiac reconstructive surgery has remained a surgical "art" with a gradually increasing number of interested cardiac surgeons.
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On Cardiac Reconstructions.- Section I. Reconstruction in Congenital Lesions.- Long-Term Follow-Up of 133 Atrioventricular Septal Defects.- Surgical Repair of Complete Atrioventricular Canal: Analysis of Early and Late Results.- Outcome and Course of Primary Corrective Surgery of Atrioventricular Canal Anomalies in Infancy.- Correction of Mitral Incompetence in Atrioventricular Canal Defects with Double-Orifice Mitral Valve: The Triple-Orifice Repair.- Considerations on the Mitral Valve During Total Correction of Complete Atrioventricular Canal in Infancy Using the Two-Patch Technique.- Conservative Surgery for Congenital Abnormalities of the Mitral Valve.- Long-Term Results for Atrioventricular Connection in Tricuspid Atresia.- Reoperations for Obstructed Ventriculopulmonary Conduits.- Surgical Correction of Double-Outlet Right Ventricle.- Early and Medium-Term Results After Correction of Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Drainage in Infancy.- Arterial Switch for Repair of Simple and Complex Transposition of the Great Arteries: Early Experience.- Section II. Tricuspid Valve Reconstructions.- Tricuspid Valve Reconstructions.- Tricuspid Valve Repair by a Flexible Linear Reducer.- Modified Annuloplasty of the Tricuspid Valve: Technique and Long-Term Results.- Medium-Term Clinical and Hemodynamic Results after Reconstruction of the Tricuspid Valve Applying a New Technique.- Reconstruction of Tricuspid Valve Leaflets Destroyed by Bacterial Endocarditis.- Surgical Reconstruction of the Tricuspid Valve for Acquired Severe Stenosis.- Some Considerations of "Functional" Tricuspid Insufficiency and Its Implications in Tricuspid Reconstruction.- Section III. Mitral Valve Reconstructions.- Mitral Valve Reconstructions.- Mitral Annuloplasty with the Puig Massana-Shiley Ring: Long-Term Results.- Semi-frame Mitral Annuloplasty.- Mitral Valve Repair Without Using Rings or Slings.- Transposition of Chordae in "Floppy" Mitral Valve Repair.- Prolapsed Anterior Mitral Valve: Surgical Treatment by Partial Transposition of the Posterior Leaflet.- Conservative Surgery for Mitral Regurgitation: A Discriminant Analysis of Techniques and Lesions.- Mitral Valve Reconstruction: Pushing the Conventional Limits.- Conservative Surgery of the Mitral Valve: An Echocardiographic Long-Term Evaluation.- Artificial Chordae in the Treatment of Mitral Valve Pathology.- Intraoperative Evaluation of the Reconstruction of the Atrioventricular Valves by Means of Transesophageal Echocardiography.- Section IV. Aortic Valve Reconstructions.- Aortic Valve Reconstructions.- The Narrow Aortic Valve Ring: Technique of Enlargement Using Autologous Pericardium.- Section V. Septal and Left Ventricular Reconstructions.- The Evolution of Left Ventricular Reconstruction.- A New Approach to Left Ventricular Aneurysms: Restoration of Ventricular Dynamics by Pericardial Patch Septoplasty.- Septoplasty Procedure for Left Ventricular Aneurysms: Factors Affecting Early and Late Results.- Early Septal Reconstruction Following Acute Myocardial Infarction.- Early Repair of Postinfarction Ventricular Septal Defects: Technical Issues.- Reconstruction of the Left Ventricle for Aneurysm or Akinetic Zone by Endoventricular Circular Plasty with Septal Exclusion.- Left-Ventricular Aneurysmectomy: Converging Walls Reconstruction Technique.- Aneurysmectomy and Left Ventricular Reconstruction in Ischemic Heart Disease.- Long-Term Follow-Up after Partial Left Ventricular Wall Replacement Due to Cardiac Tumor in Childhood.- Cardiac Patients with Primary and Secondary Heart Tumors: Operative Procedures and Follow-Up.- Surgical Technique in Subvalvular and Midventricular Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathie (HOCM).- Section VI. Coronary Artery Reconstructions.- Coronary Artery Reconstructions: Why? How? When?.- Open Endarterectomy with Vein-Patch Coronary Reconstruction and Internal Mammary Artery Implant.- Left-Sided Coronary Thromboendarterectomy in Complex Internal Mammary Artery Grafting.- Surgical Angioplasty of the Left Main Coronary Artery with Venous Patch: Antegrade Myocardial Revascularization.- Surgical Angioplasty for Isolated Left Main Coronary Disease.- Surgical Coronary Ostial Plasty.- Section VII. On Reconstructive Material.- Biological Behavior of Materials Implanted in the Heart.- Immunogenicity of Glutaraldehyde-Tanned Bovine Pericardium.