Robot-Assisted Mitral Valve Plasty

Abstract

In April 2014, Team Watanabe have completed 249 robot-assisted cardiac surgeries. Wide range of procedures include internal thoracic artery harvesting, totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting(CABG), atrial septal defect closure, mitral valve plasty, cardiac tumor resection. The major benefit of robot-assisted cardiac surgery, which differentiates it from minimally invasive cardiac surgery, is that it only requires a few ports instead of small thoracotomy. Mitral valve plasty for regurgitation is one of the most suitable indication, which represents the advantage of robot-assisted cardiac surgery. The da Vinci surgical system completely changed the modality of cardiac surgeries from median sternotomy to endoscopic approach. Endoscopic surgery is expected not only to provide superior cosmesis but also to reduce complications and improve post-operative quality of life. In addition, we consider that sharing the same surgical view on the screen monitor is another great benefit from the educational point of view for the next-generation.