Adam’s Heart Valve Surgery Blog

Blog Topics: Heart Valve Repair Surgery Options; Candidate For Robotic Mitral Valve Repair; Percutaneous Mitral Repair

As you may be aware, minimally invasive procedures - robotics and percutaneous methods - are becoming more and more accepted as viable alternatives to traditional open heart procedures that require the patient’s sternum to be broken.

Woo-Hoo! This is a great thing! As a patient, who experienced broken sternum recovery, let me tell you… Having your chestplate broken is highly over-rated.

However, noninvasive heart operations are not available for all procedures nor are they available for all patients. That said, patients and caregivers often wonder, “Am I a candidate for robotic mitral repair?”

SO… WHO IS A CANDIDATE FOR ROBOTIC MITRAL VALVE REPAIR?

It’s a great question. I did some digging to find the patient requirements to be considered a candidate for robotic mitral valve repair.

I did not find much. However, the University of Iowa does reference some elements of the patient qualifications for robotic mitral valve repair. According to the University of Iowa:

“Robotically assisted mitral valve surgery is currently indicated for patients isolated with mitral valve disease, which is felt amenable to repair. This will be determined by medical history and physical exam, as well as review of the cardiac echocardiogram or ultrasound. Patients needing coronary bypass surgery in addition to mitral valve surgery would not be candidates.“

That helps!

FYI, here is a picture of what an operating room using the Da Vinci Surgical System looks like:

FYI, here is a picture of a surgeon using the Da Vinci Surgical System for mitral valve repair:

If you would like to see a robotic mitral valve repair video, click this link to view my surgeon, Dr. Vaughn Starnes, discuss and perform a mitral valve repair using a robotic system.

However, I wanted to know more.

So, I went the Da Vinci Surgical Systems website to better understand what determines whether or not a patient is a candidate for robotic mitral valve repair. Unfortunately, I did not find anything on the site that references this topic.

That said, if you have any more information on being a candidate for robotic mitral valve repair or replacement, please leave a comment below.

Keep on tickin!

Adam Pick is the author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. This special book was designed to help patients and caregivers better understand the realities of heart valve surgery (heart valve replacement and heart valve repair), to minimize patient stress and to enhance the patient’s recovery. To learn more about Adam’s heart valve surgery book, click here.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 9:52 am and is filed under Heart Surgery Options. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Print This Post | EMail This Post.