Procedure

Aortic valve replacement through a right minithoracotomy

CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology "G.Pasquinucci" Hospital, Via Aurelia Sud, 54100 Massa, Italy

^* Corresponding author: ^* Tel.: +39-0585 493 604; fax: +39-0585 493 614 E-mail: glauber{at}ifc.cnr.it

During the last years, minimally-invasive operative techniques have been introduced in cardiac surgery. Many advantages, such as less postoperative pain, lower morbidity and mortality, faster recovery, shorter duration of operation and hospital stay associated with lower costs were described for these new techniques. Minimally invasive cardiac surgery has been developed to offer patients the benefits of open heart operations with decreased pain and limited skin incision. It has been popularized as an alternative to the conventional median sternotomy approach. With its several recognized advantages this technique certainly requires some dedicated skills and experience of surgeons, anesthetists and perfusionists for a successful result. In this article we demonstrate our surgical approach for aortic valve replacement through a right minithoracotomy.

Key Words: Aortic valve replacement • Heart-access surgery • Minimally invasive