
Education
The Heart of the Future: Robotic Cardiac Surgery
3 min. read
Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute
As robotic surgery has evolved, more patients are being told that they are good candidates for less-invasive heart surgery. It’s welcome news for patients, who understandably want to avoid the large chest incision, cracked ribs and lengthy recovery of traditional open-heart surgery. Yet robotic surgery patients should be aware that for the best outcomes, they must find a high-volume center with a seasoned surgical team, say experts at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute.
Makoto Hashimoto, M.D., one of the world’s renowned robotic cardiothoracic surgeons, recently joined the Institute, bringing more options to patients who need heart surgery. Dr. Hashimoto, previously director of the Center of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery and Robotic Cardiac Surgery at the Sapporo Cardiovascular Clinic in Japan, is also professor and director of robotic cardiac surgery at the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.
“There were 2 million robotic surgeries last year, but very few of those were cardiac surgeries,” Dr. Hashimoto said. “While we have more than a decade of performing robotic cardiac surgeries, not many robotic cardiac surgeons do 20 or more robotic surgeries a year. For successful outcomes, it’s important to have a more experienced team.”
Since launching the robotic cardiac surgery program in Japan in 2020, Dr. Hashimoto has performed more than 100 cases a year and participates in many cases at other facilities each year to help educate cardiac surgeons on the use of robotics. Manipulating surgical cameras and numerous instruments through tiny incisions at a console near the patient’s side in the operating room requires a high level of skill and precision obtained through years of training.
The Institute has long been a pioneer in minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures and is evolving its cardiac surgery program, expanding open-heart, minimally invasive and robotic-assisted technologies, said Tom Nguyen, M.D., FACS, FAC, chief medical executive, director of minimally invasive valve surgery and the Barry T. Katzen Medical Director Endowed Chair. “We are excited to be involved in this era of innovation to bring the best and most advanced care to our patients,” he said.
Dr. Hashimoto recently shared his robotics expertise with 115 physicians from 17 countries at the Baptist Health International World-Class Medical Care International Symposium. The meeting was also broadcast live to several medical schools in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“With the robotic surgical system we use, the surgeon’s hand movements are seamlessly translated into precise, real-time movement of instruments,” he said. “We have a degree of motion that is better than the human hand, a magnified field of vision and the ability to use many instruments.”
Robotic cardiac procedures performed at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute include:
· Aortic valve replacement
· Mitral and tricuspid valve repair or replacement
· Left atrial appendage closure
· Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery (MIDCAB)
· Hybrid coronary artery revascularization
· MAZE operation (surgery for atrial fibrillation)
· Heart defect repairs and tumor removal
For patients, the benefits of robotic cardiac surgery include a shorter recovery time, less blood loss, reduced pain and less need for pain medications, a lower chance of infection and a faster return to regular activities.
Makoto Hashimoto, M.D., robotic cardiothoracic surgeon at Baptist Health Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute
“Robotic surgery can offer a very fast recovery for patients,” Dr. Hashimoto said. A study of the first 200 robotic cardiac surgeries in one hospital in Japan showed almost no complications with a postoperative stay of four days, which has now been reduced to two days for most patients. They had a mean return-to-work of two weeks, with 45 percent of patients returning to work after one week.
As technology improves, even more cardiac procedures will be able to safely be performed robotically, Dr. Hashimoto said. “In the future, we will be looking at telesurgery, where the patient and the surgeon aren’t even in the same facility. This will be a game-changer for those in rural areas or in countries that don’t have the ability to provide cardiac surgery,” he said.
Do You Know Your Coronary Calcium Score? As part of Heart Month this February, many Baptist Health diagnostic imaging locations will be participating in our heart scan promotion. You may be eligible for a CT calcium scoring if you are 40-75 years old and meet certain cardiac risk factors. To learn more and request an appointment, visit BaptistHealth.net/HeartScan.
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