Minimally invasive cardiac surgeries are the trend in the future. Among them, robotic cardiac surgery is the latest iteration with several key-hole incision, 3-dimentional visualization, and articulated instrumentation of 7 degree of ergonomic freedom for those complex procedures in the heart. In particular, robotic mitral valve surgery, as well as coronary artery bypass grafting, has evolved over the last decade and become the preferred method at certain specialized centers worldwide because of excellent results. Other cardiac procedures are in various stages of evolution. Stepwise innovation of robotic technology will continue to make robotic operations simpler, more efficient, and less invasive, which will encourage more surgeons to take up this technology and extend the benefits of robotic surgery to a larger patient population.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of different surgical strategies for moderate functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) at the time of aortic valve replacement (AVR) on patients' prognosis.MethodsA total of 118 AVR patients, including 84 males and 34 females, aged 58.1±12.4 years, who were complicated with moderate FMR were retrospectively recruited. Patients were divided into three groups according to the treatment strategy of mitral valve: a group A (no intervention, n=11), a group B (mitral valve repair, n=51) and a group C (mitral valve replacement, n=56). The primary endpoint was the early and mid-term survival of the patients, and the secondary endpoint was the improvement of FMR.ResultsThe median follow-up time was 29.5 months. Five patients died perioperatively, all of whom were from the group C. Early postoperative FMR improvement rates in the group A and group B were 90.9% and 94.1% (P=0.694). The mid-term mortality in the three groups were 0.0%, 5.9% and 3.9%, respectively (P=0.264), while the incidences of major cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events were 0.0%, 9.8% and 17.7%, respectively (P=0.230). Improvements of FMR in the group A and group B were 100.0% and 94.3% at the mid-term follow-up (P>0.05).ConclusionFor patients receiving AVR with moderate FMR, conservative treatment or concurrent repair of mitral valve may be more reasonable, while mitral valve replacement may increase the incidence of early and mid-term adverse events.
Thoracoscopic mitral valve replacement is a common minimally invasive cardiac surgery procedure. However, small annulus, severe calcification of the annulus, and severe thickening of the posterior valve leaflet or sub valvular structure are the difficulties of thoracoscopic mitral valve replacement. Improper treatment can easily lead to left ventricular rupture or prosthesis-patient mismatch. This paper reports a thoracoscopic mitral bioprosthesis replacement case using the chimney technique in Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and summarizes its operating key points. The patient was a 68-year-old female, weighing 36 kg. The preoperative diagnosis was rheumatic mitral stenosis and atrial fibrillation, the preoperative transthoracic echocardiogram showed the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter was 39 mm. The surgical effect was satisfactory. The patient was in good condition at the follow-up 2 months after the operation.
Objective To examine the regression, residue, or progression of tricuspid regurgitation （TR） after mitral valve replacement so as to improve the clinical evaluation and management of TR. Methods From January 1998 to December 2003, a total of 287 consecutive patients of mitral valve replacement were followed and reviewed for this study. There were 86 male patients and 201 female patients whose ages ranged from 15 to 66 years （41.0±11.0 years）. The predominant mitral vane lesion was stenosis in 199 patients （69%）, regurgitation in 66 patients （23%） and mixed in 22 patients （8%）. A total of 201 patients （70%） had atrial fibrillation and 86 patients （30%） were in sinus rhythm. According to ratio of maximal regurgitation area to right atrial area TR was graded as mild （＋）, mild-moderate （＋/＋＋） moderate （＋＋） moderate-severe （＋＋/＋＋＋） and severe （＋＋＋）. There were 101 mild TR （36.7%）, 5 mild-moderate（1.8%）, 27 moderate （9.8%）, 2 moderate-severe （0.7%） and 21 severe （7.6%）. Depending on the surgical findings tricuspid annuloplasty was performed. The patients were followed in outpatient clinical and had echocardiography evaluation regularly. Results The follow-up ranged from 2 to 7 years （4.0±1.6 years）. Twelve patients were lost during the follow-up periods. Compared with preoperation, clinical condition of the majority of patients was improved after surgery. The diameter of left atrium, right atrium, left ventricle and right ventricle decreased significantly after operation （P〈0.01）. The ejection fraction and fraction of shorting increased significantly after surgery （P〈0.05）. However there were no significantly changes between pre- TR and post- TR in these patients （P〉0.05）. Tricuspid annuloplasty was not performed for 129 patients who had TR because TR was judged intraoperatively not to be severe. Of those patients, TR regressed in 54 patients, improved in 12 patients, did not change in 46 patients and progressed in 17 patients respectively after surgery. There were 27 patients who received De Vega tricuspid annuloplasty. Among them, TR regressed in 10 patients, improved in 12 patients and did not change in 5 patients respectively after surgery. Conclusion It is not adequate to evaluate the degree of TR in mitral valve diseases with rate of maximal regurgitation area to right atrial area. It should be improved to adopt intraoperative findings for tricuspid annuloplasty. TR may occur in patients who do not have TR before operation.