Minimal Access Heart Surgery via Lower Ministernotomy: Experience in 460 Cases

A Simple Approach for Minimally Invasive Combined Aortic and Mitral Valve Surgery

BACKGROUND

 There is now extension of minimally invasive techniques to involve concomitantly aortic and mitral valves through a single small incision. We share our experience in such surgeries through upper partial sternotomy with approaching the mitral valve through the dome of the left atrium.

METHODS

 Two matched groups of cases receiving concomitant aortic and mitral valve surgeries are compared regarding the surgical outcomes: the minimally invasive group (group A) including 72 patients and the conventional group (group B) including 78 patients.

RESULTS

 The mean age was 52 ± 8 years in group A and 53 ± 7 years in group B. Males represented (42%) in group A and (49%) in group B. The mean mechanical ventilation time was significantly shorter in group A (4.3 ± 1.2 hours) than in group B (6.1 ± 0.8 hours) with a p-value of 0.001. In addition, the amount of chest tube drainage and the need for blood transfusion units were significantly less in group A (250 ± 160 cm³ and 1.3 ± 0.8 units, respectively) when compared with group B (320 ± 180 cm³ and 1.8 ± 0.9 units, respectively) with p-values of 0.013 and 0.005, respectively. Over a follow-up period of 3.2 ± 1.1 years, one mortality occurred in each group with no significant difference (p-value = 0.512).

CONCLUSION

 Combined aortic and mitral valve surgery through upper partial sternotomy with approaching the mitral valve through the dome of the left atrium is safe and effective with the advantages of less postoperative blood loss, need for blood transfusion, and mechanical ventilation time compared with conventional aortic and mitral valve surgery.

Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting via a lower ministernotomy for left anterior descending artery myocardial bridging: mid-term results

OBJECTIVES

Coronary artery bypass grafting or supra-arterial myotomy is now suggested as a better therapeutic option in myocardial bridging (MB) when medical treatment fails to control symptoms. For left anterior descending (LAD) MB, minimally invasive coronary artery bypass via a lower ministernotomy can be offered.

METHODS

Forty-four consecutive patients who underwent elective minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery from 2005 to 2014 via an inferior sternotomy using the left internal mammary artery as a bypass graft for LAD MB were evaluated retrospectively.

RESULTS

The mean age was 59.1 ± 13.1 years with 26 (59%) men and 18 (41%) women. The mean body mass index was 27.2 ± 3.9 and the mean EuroSCORE II was 1.6 ± 1.8. Routine coronary multislice computed tomography angiography on the 6th postoperative day revealed 97.7% graft patency. During the initial hospital stay, 1 patient (2.3%) underwent a reoperation for early graft failure. Forty patients (91%) could be followed up for a mean period of 64.4 ± 24.5 months after the procedure, during which 2 patients (4.5%) died of non-cardiac causes and 9 patients (20.5%) underwent postoperative coronary angiography with confirmed graft occlusion in only 1 case (2.3%). The improvement in the distribution of patients in the Canadian Cardiovascular Society class 0 was from 4 patients (9%) preoperatively to 37 patients (84%) at the end of the follow-up period (P-value 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery via a lower ministernotomy may be safe and efficient for treating LAD artery MB with acceptable complication rates, cosmetic benefits and patency rates.

How to set-up a program of minimally-invasive surgery for congenital heart defects

BACKGROUND

Mid-line sternotomy is the commonest incision for cardiac surgery. Alternative approaches are becoming fashionable in many centres, amidst some reluctance because of learning curves and overall complexity. Our recent experience in starting a new program on minimally invasive pediatric cardiac surgery is presented. The rationale for a stepwise onset and the short-medium term results for a three-year span are displayed.

METHODS

A three-step schedule is planned: First, an experienced surgeon (A) starts performing simple cases. Second, new surgeons (B, C, D, E) are introduced to the minimally invasive techniques according to their own proficiency and skills. Third, the new adopters are enhanced to suggest and develop further minimally invasive approaches. Two quality markers are defined: conversion rate and complications.

RESULTS

In part one, surgeon A performs sub-mammary, axillary and lower mini-sternotomy approaches for simple cardiac defects. In part two, surgeons B, C, D and E are customly introduced to such incisions. In part three, new approaches such as upper mini-sternotomy, postero-lateral thoracotomy and video-assisted mini-thoracotomy are introduced after being suggested and developed by surgeons B, C and E, as well as an algorithm to match cardiac conditions and age/weight to a given alternative approach. The conversion rate is one out of 148 patients. Two major complications were recorded, none of them related to our alternative approach. Four minor complications linked to the new incision were registered. The minimally invasive to mid-line sternotomy ratio rose from 20% in the first year to 40% in the third year.

CONCLUSIONS

Minimally invasive pediatric cardiac surgery is becoming a common procedure worldwide. Our schedule to set up a program proves beneficial. The three-step approach has been successful in our experience, allowing a tailored training for every new surgeon and enhancing the enthusiasm in developing further strategies on their own. Recording conversion-rates and complications stands for quality standards. A twofold increase in minimally invasive procedures was observed in two years. The short-medium term results after three years are excellent.

[15 years of minimally invasive paediatric cardiac surgery; development and trends]

INTRODUCTION

The minimally invasive approach is seldom reported in paediatric cardiac surgery. Teams gathering experience are scarce, with programs focused on simple cases. The experience is presented on a series of over 200 cases operated on in the past 15 years.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A sub-mammary approach program was started in 2000, which was gradually extended to include more complex and younger patients. The axillary incision was adopted in 2009, following the same steps. In 2013, the mini-sternotomy incision was introduced, increasing our armamentarium. From July 2000 until December 2014, 203 patients were operated on. The sub-mammary approach was used in 102 cases, axillary in 50 patients, mini-sternotomy in 44, postero-lateral thoracotomy in 4 cases, and upper mini-sternotomy in 3.

RESULTS

By diagnosis, ostium secundum atrial septal defect was the most common (128), followed by sinus venosus (20), ventricular septal defect (20), ostium primum (16), and others (19). One patient was converted to sternotomy. No neurological events were detected. The mean age was 7.8/3.7 and 1.8 years, and the mean weight was 28.1/16.1 and 9.4 Kg. in the sub-mammary, axillary and mini-sternotomy approaches, respectively. The aesthetic results were excellent.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on our 15 years of experience, minimally invasive surgery is safe and yields excellent cosmetic results. The gradual introduction of alternative approaches (sub-mammary, axillary, mini-sternotomy) allowed us to set-up guidelines and learning curves. The wide range of incisions enables the most appropriate one to be selected depending on age/weight and cardiac condition.