{"id":4879,"date":"2024-09-17T19:37:49","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T19:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/?page_id=4879"},"modified":"2024-10-20T13:31:14","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T13:31:14","slug":"robotic-mitral-valve-questions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/robotic-mitral-valve-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Surgeon Roundtable: Top 5 Questions To Ask Your Robotic Mitral Valve Surgeon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Robotic mitral valve repair is a minimally-invasive procedure requiring only very small incisions that provides patients several advantages including less pain and faster recovery times. However, the idea of robotic mitral valve surgery should not lead patients to an immediate conclusion that it is less complex than a traditional open-chest procedure. Robotic mitral valve surgery is a highly technical and intricate operation that should be limited to specialized centers and skilled surgeons.<\/p>\n<p>To help patients learn more about robot-assisted mitral valve repair, we sat down with two of Cleveland Clinic\u2019s most experienced robotic surgeons. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Marc-Gillinov-Cleveland-Ohio.php\">Dr. Marc Gillinov<\/a>, Chief of Cardiac Surgery, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Tarek-Malas-Cleveland-Ohio.php\">Dr. Tarek Malas,<\/a> Staff Cardiac Surgeon, and their team at Cleveland Clinic have performed over 2,000 robotic mitral valve surgeries. Specifically, we wanted to know what Dr. Gillinov and Dr. Malas considered to be the \u201cTop 5 Questions\u201d patients should ask their surgeons before having a robotic mitral valve operation.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bielkeYc0Hc?rel=0?si=V7RoHbMo1u1CzRXh\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Top 5 Questions Patients Need To Ask<\/h2>\n<p>According to Dr. Gillinov and Dr. Malas, here are the top five questions to ask your robotic mitral valve surgeon:<\/p>\n<p>Question #1: Is robotic surgery better for me than regular heart surgery through a sternotomy?<\/p>\n<p>According to Dr. Gillinov, most often, the answer is yes. \u201cRobotic surgery is better for you because, with small incisions, you\u2019re going to recover more quickly, you won\u2019t look like you had heart surgery, and you\u2019re going to feel better much faster than you would if you had a standard sternal incision,\u201d Dr. Gillinov said. \u201cWhy? Because in the robotic operation, we go through the side with small incisions, and we do not cut any bones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2875 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/..\/Images\/open-heart-robotic-surgery.jpg\" alt=\"Open Heart Robotic Diagram Incision\" width=\"650\" height=\"363\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Question #2: Am I a candidate for robotic surgery?<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Malas said, \u201cThat\u2019s a question we examine together in a multidisciplinary team, meaning we work together with cardiologists, anesthesiologists, etc., to evaluate whether you are a candidate. And we do a CT scan and certain testing procedures to evaluate if you are a candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Question #3: Can you do the same thing with the robot as you would through a regular incision?<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Gillinov explained that this question helps patients determine that a surgeon won\u2019t cut corners and perform a lesser operation just so that a patient can get a smaller incision. He said, \u201cWe are selective and have great expertise after more than 2,000 robotic operations, such that we know we can do exactly the same thing through a small incision to speed the recovery. So the answer has to be, \u2018Yes!\u2019 The surgeon can do the same thing with the small robotic incisions as through a sternotomy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4884\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/..\/Images\/robotic-arms.jpg\" alt=\"Robotic Mitral Valve Surgery Arms\" width=\"650\" height=\"365\" \/><br \/>\nRobotic Arms<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Question #4: How do you choose your heart surgeon?<\/p>\n<p>According to Dr. Malas, it\u2019s important to go to a center with extensive expertise and volume and with surgeons who have performed robotic mitral valve repair many times. \u201cAs you know, robotic surgery is not taught in medical school. This takes a lot of expertise and time to develop. It\u2019s important to go to a center that has done quite a lot, like the Cleveland Clinic. We\u2019ve done more than 2,400 cases, and we have done them very well with a repair rate of about 99.8%,\u201d said Dr. Malas. \u201cWe\u2019ve mastered the learning curve here to make it a routine surgery, and we\u2019ve worked together effectively as a team and performed the surgery in a fantastic, very structured way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4885 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/..\/Images\/robotic-mitral-valve-surgery-outcomes-cleveland-clinic.jpg\" alt=\"Robotic Mitral Valve Surgery Outcomes\" width=\"650\" height=\"364\" \/>Cleveland Clinic Outcomes for Mitral Valve Repair Surgery<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Question #5: How does the robot work?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany people think it\u2019s sort of like a Keurig coffee maker where you hit a button, you come back, and the coffee is made,\u201d said Dr. Gillinov. \u201cUnfortunately, for the surgeon, it\u2019s not like that. There\u2019s no button that makes the robot repair your mitral valve or close an atrial septal defect.\u201d Dr. Gillinov said the robot is a highly advanced, resilient tool used most commonly to repair the mitral valve. \u201cThe most important part of it is a camera because we put it into the chest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t need an incision or a hole as big as my hand because my hand never goes into the chest,\u201d Dr. Gillinov said. \u201cThe camera is a three-dimensional camera, which enables the surgeon, Dr. Malas, or myself, sitting at a console, to see inside your heart with three-dimensional visualization. Then, we can use three instruments at once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Gillinov continued, \u201cThe instruments are on long tubes, a little bit thicker than a straw, and they go into the chest, and although we only have two hands, we can have three instruments and a camera operating at once with us controlling them from the console. We then use these instruments, which are scissors and forceps, just like regular instruments. We use them to repair your valve, and with the excellent camera and these very flexible instruments, we can do everything through tiny incisions such that the day after surgery, you don\u2019t look like you had heart surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Thanks Dr. Gillinov, Dr. Malas and the Cleveland Clinic!<\/h2>\n<p>On behalf of the HeartValveSurgery.com patient community, thank you, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Marc-Gillinov-Cleveland-Ohio.php\">Dr. Gillinov<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/surgeons\/dr-Tarek-Malas-Cleveland-Ohio.php\">Dr. Malas<\/a>, for giving us these five important questions to ask when searching for an experienced surgeon and to learn more about robotic mitral valve repair. We would also like to thank the Cleveland Clinic for continuing to care for heart valve patients and keep them informed!<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2022\/10\/01\/dr-gillinov-patients-meet\/\">Patient Success Story: Ginny, Lisa and Randy Celebrate Dr. Marc Gillinov<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/videos\/3-questions-mitral-valve-surgery\">Educational Patient Webinar: 3 Questions to Ask Before Mitral Valve Surgery<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/anxiety-fear-gillinov\/\">Surgeon Insights: Top 3 Facts to Dispel Patient Anxiety Before Heart Surgery<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Keep on tickin!<br \/>\nAdam<\/p>\n<p>P.S. For the deaf and hard-of-hearing members of our community, I have provided a written transcript of\u00a0 this surgeon roundtable video below.<\/p>\n<p>References:<\/p>\n<p>1. Williams ML, Hwang B, Huang L, et al. Robotic versus conventional sternotomy mitral valve surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2022;11(5):490-503. doi:10.21037\/acs-2022-rmvs-21<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"cms.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"class_list":["post-4879","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-mitral-valve-repair"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4879"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5013,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4879\/revisions\/5013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}