• Jason E Felger, Clifton C Reade, L Wiley Nifong, and W Randolph Chitwood.
• Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, USA.
• Surg Technol Int. 2004 Jan 1;12:185-7.

AbstractOur institution has performed over 100 robot-assisted mitral valve repairs. The procedure has shown many advantages to conventional sternotomy-based repair. However, the robotic approach leads to longer cross-clamp and bypass times than conventional sternotomy. As a result of the increased risk of myocardial damage and arrhythmias from lengthy arrest times, nitinol U-clips have been used in the laboratory and currently in patients for the tissue-annuloplasty ring approximation. The technology replaces the time-consuming task of knot tying, as well as provides better visualization during placement of the annuloplasty ring. The animal studies show excellent tissue incorporation. Short-term echocardiographic imaging shows durability without evidence of mitral stenosis or regurgitation. Further studies are ongoing in our patient population, and the data suggest shorter, more efficient and effective robot-assisted mitral valve repairs.

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