Marty
Well-known member
They have had the robot at Inova Fairfax for over a year now.Dr. Paul Massimiano the mitral valve guru in our group of 10 heart surgeons( sort of a poor man's Dr. Cosgrove) allowed the Washington Post in to watch him do a mitral valve repair-his 38th with the robot.If interested, check in to Health Section Washingtonpost . com April 27. The article is long and detailed and has pictures-too long to post here.I was surprised to learn that the robot is particularly effective in mitral valve surgery, both repair and replacement.Its great advantage is the sternum does not need to be split and there is more rapid recovery. The patients usually are home the 2nd post op day.The surgeon operates at a comfortable console unscrubbed and the robot will correct any tremor the surgeon might have from too much coffee or being up all night.Disadvantages include increased operation time and consequently more patient time on the bypass pump.For even more info click www.intuitivesurgical.com