This is a procedure that patients are willing to travel long distances for. We’re thrilled to be able to offer it to patients in our rural region and beyond, without the need to go to Boston or a further distance away.
Henry J. Tannous, MDDartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) recently became the first East Coast hospital in the United States north of Boston to offer minimally invasive robotic mitral valve surgery.
The mitral valve, which connects the upper and lower left-side chambers of the human heart, is critical to the heart’s proper function. Mitral valve prolapse is common, and when it leads to severe leakage over a prolonged period of time, the heart can sustain permanent damage or fail completely.
Replacing the valve with an animal valve is an option, but, when possible, surgically repairing it is the preferred course of treatment which benefits the patient. The success rate of mitral valve repair surgery is highly variable and is estimated to be 60-70% nationwide.
“We are one of the top academic medical centers in the United States for mitral valve repair with a success rate greater than 95% in repairing degenerative mitral valve disease,” said Henry J. Tannous, MD, section chief of cardiac surgery in the Heart and Vascular Center (HVC) at DHMC.
Now, that stellar percentage is set to be paired with a minimally invasive option with the introduction of the most cutting-edge technology available in mitral valve surgery.
The novel procedure has been in development for 20 years, but only gained traction for patients needing mitral valve repair in the last five. Tannous and his cardiac surgery team at DHMC spent a full year preparing to use the robot in surgery, visiting other academic centers already using it in Atlanta, Manhattan and Los Angeles to observe colleagues working with it in surgery.
The launch of the robot times perfectly with the addition of DHMC’s newest cardiac surgeon, Jose R. Rodriguez, MD, who joined the HVC team this summer and performed surgeries with it at his previous institution, Tannous said.
“The fact that we had the whole team getting ready before his arrival made Dr. Rodriguez a perfect match” said Tannous, who also had experience working with the robot in his previous role at Stony Brook University Hospital on Long Island. “And because we took our preparation process very seriously, when the day of the first surgery arrived, it was like business as usual. Our surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, physician assistants, perfusionists, ICU staff—everyone on the team worked together seamlessly, and it led to a successful procedure for the patient.”
That first patient, whose surgery was performed on August 15, is at home recovering, Tannous said. A second robot-assisted mitral valve repair was performed August 18, and that patient is also recovering well and went home that same week, he added. Two more surgeries are already scheduled for September with more likely to be added.
A team approach is essential to a successful surgery, Tannous said, and the robot is no exception. It allows for more precision, with a magnifying power of 10 times for suture placement, giving surgeons extra dexterity, but the robot is a member of the team, not star of the show.
“The robot is a very fancy tool, but it can’t do the surgery or teach us how to repair a valve,” Tannous said. “It allows us to do a better job, which leads to better outcomes for patients.”
While the robot is currently only being used for mitral valve repair at DHMC, it can also be used to assist in other cardiac surgeries, Tannous said, which his team hopes to also offer patients down the road.
“Robotic surgery is less invasive, allows for less time spent in the hospital, and faster recovery,” Tannous said. “This is a procedure that patients are willing to travel long distances for. We’re thrilled to be able to offer it to patients in our rural region and beyond, without the need to go to Boston or a further distance away.”
To learn more about robotic mitral valve surgery at DHMC, call 603-650-5724.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.