Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery
Most isolated mitral valve repair at Yale-New Haven Hospital are performed using minimally invasive surgery. The incision is about 2-3 inches compared to the 6- to 8- inch incision required for traditional surgery.
Despite the known benefits of repair over replacement, only about 40 to 45 percent of mitral valves nationwide are repaired. However, in centers that specialize in mitral valve repair, such as Yale-New Haven Hospital Heart and Vascular Center, the rate climbs to about 90 percent. Minimally invasive surgical techniques allow access to the diseased valve thru a window in the breast bone. A mini upper sternotomy is used for aortic valve replacement. A lower sternal window is used for mitral repair. Only the area involved in the surgery is exposed and manipulated. The chest wall architecture is not disturbed. The postoperative pain is less and the ability to drive comes as early as two weeks after surgery.
The minimally invasive technique used at Yale-New Haven Heart and Vascular Center does not compromise the quality of the repair or the replacement while it minimizes the postoperative morbidity