Robotic Surgery For Mitral Valve Repair
Over the past few years, robotic surgery for heart valve procedures, mostly mitral valve repair, has been accepted in the medical community as an alternative to traditional open heart approaches using a median sternotomy (broken sternum).
In theory, there are several advantages of robotic surgery for heart valve procedures. Most importantly, the reocovery period is decreased due to the less invasive nature of the procedure. Often referred to as minimally invasive heart valve surgery, the surgeon uses robotic devices to navigate through the confined spaced of the chest (thorax).
As a result of robotic surgery for heart valve procedures, patients do not need to have their sternum "cracked" open (a median sternotomy). Accordingly, the scar left from the robotic procedure is about three inches long. This is significantly less than the eight- to ten-inch scar that remains following open-heart surgery in which the sternum is split.
Diagram of Robotic Heart Valve Repair
As with traditional procedures, the risk of robotic surgery for heart valve repair is low. At many heart surgery centers, the mortality rate for robotic surgery of mitral valve repair is close to zero.
I recently interviewed Dr. Tom Mihaljevic about his clinical experience with the robot for his patients needing mitral valve surgery at The Cleveland Clnic. Here is part of our discussion:
> Next: To learn more about robotic heart valve surgery procedures and techniques, click here.
