Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery

The Johns Hopkins Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgical Program offers several operations using minimally-invasive approaches:

• Mitral Valve Repair
• Aortic Valve Replacement
• Tricuspid Valve Repair or Replacement
• Atrial Septal Defect/Patent Foramen Ovale Closure
• Biventricular Epicardial Pacing Lead Placement
• Surgical Radiofrequency Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation

In 2003 Johns Hopkins surgeons performed the hospital's first minimally-invasive robotic heart operation, placing a biventricular pacemaker lead in a patient with ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy . This team subsequently performed Hopkins’ first robotic “open-heart” operation, successfully repairing the mitral valve of a 78 year old man. Operations are performed using much less invasive incisions than those used with the standard sternotomy approach. Compared to standard open-chest cardiac surgery, these minimally-invasive techniques involve less pain, fewer wound complications, shorter hospital stays, superior cosmesis, and faster recovery times for patients.