Invited Commentary

Abstract

Dr Pineda and colleagues [1] present a series of 39 consecutive patients undergoing removal of isolated benign cardiac mass lesions. The senior author, Dr Lamelas, performed 22 of these through a small right anterior thoracotomy, and 17 were by standard sternotomy by different surgeons. All masses were successfully resected and there were no deaths. Not surprisingly, the minimally invasive approach was associated with longer cross-clamp and total bypass times. This increase time did not appear to increase morbidity, and indeed, the intensive care unit and total hospital lengths of stay were significantly shorter in the minimally invasive group.