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Who is a candidate for minimally invasive valve surgery:
You may be a candidate for minimally invasive valve surgery if you have any of the following:
- Aortic stenosis
- Aortic regurgitation
- Ascending aortic aneurysm
- Mitral stenosis
- Mitral regurgitation
- Mitral valve prolapse
- Atrial fibrillation
- Tricuspid regurgitation
If you need the following procedures, you may be a candidate for minimally invasive surgery:
- Aortic valve repair or replacement
- Ascending aortic aneurysm repair
- Aortic valve surgery after previous bypass procedure (CABG)
- Mitral valve repair or replacement
- Simultaneous mitral valve repair or replacement and tricuspid valve repair or replacement
- Simultaneous mitral valve repair or replacement and atrial fibrillation surgery (Maze procedure)
Who is not a candidate for minimally invasive valve surgery:
Patients with certain conditions of the chest wall (Pectus excavatum and Pectus carinatum)
Patients who need combined coronary artery bypass procedure and a valve procedure ( very few selected patients with certain coronary lesions and valve problems may be candidates for a minimally invasive procedure)
What is minimally invasive valve surgery:
Minimally invasive valve surgery is heart surgery on the valves to address the following conditions: aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, mitral stenosis, mitral regurgitation, mitral valve prolapse and tricuspid regurgitation. In additions, the same minimally invasive approach can be used to: 1) correct atrial fibrillation, 2) repair ascending aortic aneurysms, and 3) replace the aortic valve in patients with a previous coronary artery bypass procedures. Instead of traditionally used long incision with full sternotomy (splitting the entire breastbone), the minimally invasive approach offers a smaller (2 and a half to 3 inch) incision with division of the top or lower half of the sternum, depending on the valve involved). This approach offers the following advantages: less pain, better cosmesis, faster discharge from the hospital, and last but not least a very well established decrease in blood transfusion with heart surgery. Unlike many other minimally invasive approaches that use highly technical equipment to compensate for the inability to reach certain structures of the heart, this approach offers direct exposure to the heart and therefore the opportunity to perform the operation in a safe and expeditious manner.
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