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Updated: Oct 17, 2025

A Simplified Stepwise Approach to Echo Guidance during Percutaneous Mitral Valve Repair
Published on: October 16, 2021
Learning Curve from 100 Cases of Totally Thoracoscopic Mitral Valve Replacement
Guan-Hua Fang1, Jin-Hua Chen2, Xiao-Fu Dai3
1Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, , Union Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China. 757075427@qq.com.
Background:
To investigate and analyze the learning curve of totally thoracoscopic mitral valve replacement and provide a quantitative reference for cardiac surgeons to carry out the operation step by step.
Methods:
The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed of 100 consecutive patients with totally thoracoscopic mitral valve replacement successively performed by the same surgeon in a single center from May 2019 to June 2020. The learning curve was divided into 2 stages by using cumulative sum analysis, and relevant surgical parameters and perioperative indicators were analyzed.
Results:
The first stage of the learning curve is the skill acquisition stage, which includes 1 to 40 surgical procedures. The second stage is the proficiency stage, involving 41 to 100 operations. Among the surgical parameters of the patients in the 2 stages, detectable improvements were observed in operative time, cardiopulmonary bypass time, cross-clamp time, and intraoperative injury. After surgery, the amount of drainage, length of hospital stay, blood creatinine levels, and oxygenation index 24 h after surgery were also significantly different between the 2 groups (all P < .05). The age and sex distributions of the patients were balanced, and there was no statistically significant difference in terms of conversion to median sternotomy between the 2 stages (P > .05).
Conclusions:
Cumulative sum analysis was used to accurately analyze the learning curve of totally thoracoscopic mitral valve replacement, indicating that 40 cases are needed to master the technique.
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