Standardization for Minimally Invasive Combined Aortic and Mitral Valve Surgery via a Right Minithoracotomy

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Minimally Invasive Techniques
• Thoracic Surgery

Background:

• Combined aortic and mitral valve surgery is complex.
• Minimally invasive approaches via minithoracotomy face challenges due to complexity and prolonged procedure times.
• Previous methods lacked a standardized, well-visualized surgical field.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a novel minimally invasive technique for combined aortic and mitral valve surgery.
• To facilitate a close and frontal surgical visual field.
• To overcome the complexity and prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamping times associated with this procedure.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a minimally invasive combined aortic and mitral valve surgical procedure.
• Utilized a right minithoracotomy approach.
• Employed the superior septal approach for mitral valve access.
• Avoided the need for long-shafted specialized surgical instruments.

Main Results:

• The described technique provides a close and frontal surgical visual field.
• Achieved a standardized and well-visualized surgical field in many cases.
• Facilitated minimally invasive combined aortic and mitral valve surgery through a right minithoracotomy.

Conclusions:

• The superior septal approach enables feasible minimally invasive combined aortic and mitral valve surgery via right minithoracotomy.
• This technique simplifies the surgical field, potentially reducing procedure times and complexity.
• Further adoption of this approach may increase the use of minimally invasive strategies for complex valve surgery.