Objective: Robotically assisted mitral valve repair was approved for use in Japan in April 2018. The study objective was to assess the safety and clinical outcomes of robotic mitral valve surgery in the first 100 cases performed in our center.
Methods: We reviewed the first 100 patients who underwent robotic primary mitral valve repair, including concomitant procedures, from April 2018 to August 2019. The cause of mitral valve disease was degenerative (n = 94), endocarditis (n = 2), functional (n = 2), and other (n = 2).
Results: There was no in-hospital or 30-day mortality. Mitral valve repair was completed in all patients. Only one patient required conversion to full sternotomy due to left ventricular apex bleeding. In echocardiography performed before hospital discharge, the mitral regurgitation was graded as none or trivial in 94 patients (94%) and mild in 4 (4%). Only two patients required surgical re-intervention due to postoperative hemolysis with moderate mitral regurgitation. For patients who underwent the mitral valve procedure alone, the median times of the total operation, cardiopulmonary bypass, aortic clamping, and console usage were 185, 112, 71, and 60 min, respectively. The learning curve showed that the operation time decreased slightly during the first ten cases and then plateaued at a mean of approximately 180 min.
Conclusions: Robotically assisted mitral valve repair was feasible, safe, and therapeutically effective in the first 100 cases, with a minimal learning curve. The robotically assisted approach provides a high-quality surgical view and tremorless suture/cut handling, which will contribute to further development of minimally invasive mitral valve surgery.
Keywords: Minimum invasive cardiac surgery; Mitral valve repair; Robotic surgery.