Robotic mitral valve surgery

Abstract

Mitral valve repair surgery has advanced markedly over the past 25 years with excellent long-term outcomes. And the significant advances in surgical optics, instrumentation, and perfusion technology have allowed surgeons to perform mitral valve surgery using progressively smaller incisions. Due to its excellent therapeutic results, minimally invasive mitral valve surgery has become a standard of care at quite some specialized centers worldwide. The da Vinci robotic surgical system, an embodiment of minimally invasive surgical tools, was introduced to mitral valve surgery in 1998. And Chitwood further refined the endoscopic approach, taking advantage of the da Vinci robotic surgical system and its advanced robotic technology to repair complex mitral valve pathology through port incisions using optimized, high-definition visualization and fine dexterity. The excellent clinical outcomes are built on the foundation of stepwise improvement in surgeon’s techniques with a gradual learning curve. This chapter covers robotic mitral valve repair and replacement.