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In this video, a surgeon sketches and explains a surgical procedure using the Bookwalter retractor, emphasizing its role in keeping the surgical site open for better access and visibility. The drawing highlights the retractor's placement and its importance in the operation.

Constrictive pericarditis is a long-lasting inflammatory condition that surrounds the heart with a thicker fibrotic pericardium due to the formation of scar tissue. This results in compromised diastolic cardiac function, which leads to heart failure characterized by systemic symptoms without pulmonary congestion. Pericardiectomy is an effective surgical treatment for constrictive pericarditis and has shown significant benefits for patients.

Aortic valve repair for insufficiency is sometimes limited by deficient leaflet tissue. During the past two years, the authors have been using autologous aortic wall as a leaflet substitute, with great success. This video provides an early introduction to this technique, serving as a preliminary step to long-term follow-up studies.

An 18-year-old male with complex congenital heart defects, including dextrocardia and a functional single ventricle, had his obstructive Fontan conduit replaced with a new PTFE graft. The procedure avoided cardiopulmonary bypass and involved rerouting the conduit, which helped improve his symptoms significantly.