First report of the Port Access International Registry

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Procedures
• Surgical Outcomes

Background:

• Minimally invasive cardiac surgery requires risk profiles comparable to open-chest procedures for widespread adoption.
• The Port Access (PA) International Registry was utilized to assess the safety and efficacy of minimally invasive cardiac operations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the operative risks and outcomes of minimally invasive cardiac surgery using the Port Access (PA) technique.
• To compare the safety of PA coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and mitral valve operations against established benchmarks.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from the multicenter Port Access (PA) International Registry.
• Inclusion of 1,004 patients who completed PA procedures (583 CABG, 184 mitral valve replacement, 137 mitral valve repair) across 121 centers.

Main Results:

• Port Access procedures were successfully completed in 94% of attempted cases (1,004/1,063).
• Low operative mortality rates were observed: 1% for PA CABG, 3.3% for PA mitral valve replacement, and 1.5% for PA mitral valve repair.
• Perioperative morbidity was minimal, with low incidences of stroke, myocardial infarction, reoperation, renal failure, and multiorgan failure.

Conclusions:

• Port Access (PA) coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and mitral valve operations are safe procedures.
• Morbidity and mortality rates for PA cardiac operations are similar to those of conventional open-chest surgery.
• Further research is needed to ascertain the long-term efficacy and recovery benefits of the Port Access method.