Minimally invasive AVR at the Cleveland, amazing stats

[Ged1975]

While reading about Aortic Valve Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic website today I came across interesting data. They state that the mortality rate for minimally invasive isolated AVR is 0%. How is this possible?

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/valve/aorticvalvesurgery.aspx
What is the risk of aortic valve surgery?

At Cleveland Clinic, the overall risk of death associated with surgery for isolated aortic valve replacement is 1.8%, compared with The Society of Thoracic Surgeon's benchmark of 2.4%.

Mortality for minimally invasive isolated aortic valve replacement is 0% and mortality for minimally invasive isolated aortic valve repair is 0%.

Past history of heart surgery, your age, or other conditions that require surgical treatment will affect your individual risk. Ask your doctor about your surgical risk.

 

[Braveheart]

This is just a guess, but it makes sense to me. Perhaps CC chooses the candidates carefully for this procedure, making sure that a particular patient has the best chance of surviving the procedure. Another thing.............how many of these procedures have been done?

Years ago,when I was a candidate for bone marrow transplant, I learned that Sloan Kettering would not do the procedure on anyone over the age of 50. Nowadays, older people can get the treatment. At the time, apparently, when these treatments were in its infancy, the hospital wanted the best stats that they could get!

 

[Bina]

Of course these kinds of stats are all relative. If a doc performs 10 surgeries and those 10 survive, that is indeed a 0 % death rate.

 

[knoxbone09]

Of course these kinds of stats are all relative. If a doc performs 10 surgeries and those 10 survive, that is indeed a 0 % death rate.

Must be Bina. I always assumed that there was no such thing because there is always a risk related to the surgery, even if is infinitesimal (that's got to get some scrabble word points.) I think back to an anesthesiologist who nearly killed me in pre-op for a wrist surgery. Then again, I have no medical training and took an introductory Environmental Studies course for my science foundation requirement in college--so I can't contribute much about scientific data It does seem like you could use separate numbers that accounts for your surgeries, the national average for surgeries, or a theoretical number like I was thinking of for some odd reason.

 

[john79t]

I think CC has done many more than 10 MI aortic valves. I suspect they do choose their candidates carefully. I as believe that at the time that was posted on their board they had a 0% mortality rate for that surgery. Does not mean that the next person can't die.

 

[tobagotwo]

1. They are not taking on any tough cases with that surgery type

or

2. They have honed the definition sufficiently to put any deaths outside of the statistic.

Best wishes,

 

[ctyguy]

I had a mini-avr at C.C. Its my understanding that its limited to AVR patients with no other issues to consider.

 

[Braveheart]

I had a mini-avr at C.C. Its my understanding that its limited to AVR patients with no other issues to consider.

Right. I had the "regular" (8inch) operation, because the doc also wanted to do a single bypass. If I had only needed the AVR, he might have considered the minimally invasive route.