Letter from the Guest Editor: Advances in Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery

For CTSNet’s first Guest Editor Series, Advances in Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery, we asked Dr T. Sloane Guy of Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian Hospital to bring together videos from experts focused on this increasingly important area of cardiac surgery.

Dear Reader,

We have put together an outstanding video series of advanced minimally invasive cardiac surgery techniques from very accomplished surgeons who have mastered and perfected these techniques.  Minimally invasive procedures are taking on a greater importance in cardiac surgery as our world becomes more focused on the patient’s needs and desires, one of which is to experience a faster recovery. 

Our video series covers a wide spectrum of procedures including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), upper ministernotomy AVR/ascending aortic aneurysm replacement, minithoracotomy AVR, minithoracotomy mitral valve repair, and the “loop technique” of mitral repair.  With the advent of transcatheter procedures and at least some concern over what our role as surgeons may or may not be in the future, it has never been more important for the cardiac surgeon to remain engaged in minimally invasive techniques, whether they be catheter-based or otherwise, so that we can continue to serve our patients in the best possible manner.

There is no doubt these procedures are demanding, but with proper training and experience they can be done. We hope these videos will help.

Sincerely,

Dr T. Sloane Guy
CTSNet Guest Editor

Transfemoral TAVR by the Houston Methodist TAVR Team
by Ross Reul, Mahesh Ramchandani, Michael Reardon

Minimal Invasive MV Repair with Loop Technique
by Michael Borger, Joerg Seeburger

Upper Ministernotomy, Aortic Valve Replacement, and Ascending Aortic Replacement
by Vincent Gaudiani, Pei Tsau

Port Access and Minithoracotomy Mitral Valve Surgery
by William Ryan

Minimally Invasive Aortic Valve Replacement by Thoracotomy: Step-by-Step Guide
by Tom Nguyen, Juan Umana-Pizano

Robotic Totally Endoscopic Repair of Barlow's Mitral Valve
by T. Sloane Guy, Arash Salemi