Live surgical webcast of a minimally invasive mitral valve repair procedure

NYU Medical Center's Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery will conduct a live surgical webcast on March 9th at 3 pm ET of a minimally invasive mitral valve repair procedure.

NYU is widely recognized as one of the most proficient heart programs in the world, performing over 1,800 adult and pediatric open-heart operations a year. Dr. Stephen B. Colvin, Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery, stated, "Minimally invasive cardiac surgery has become the standard of care for virtually all patients requiring valve surgery and most patients requiring coronary artery revascularization or bypass (CABG). We are excited with the opportunity to conduct a case and discuss our technique and outcomes through the Internet broadcast. NYU is a training center for Cardiac Surgeons from around the world and this educational program expands the opportunity for our colleagues to learn and comment about this important procedure."

Approximately, 60,000 patients require some form of Mitral Valve Repair each year. NYU's Minimally Invasive approach for Mitral Valve Surgery provides several important benefits to patients.

"We reduce the trauma and pain associated with open-chest surgery and improve quality of life for patients," stated Dr. Aubrey C. Galloway, Vice Chairman of Cardiothoracic Surgery, "And eliminating the larger incision greatly reduces post-operative discomfort enables patients to quickly begin a much shorter recovery process." Currently, NYU patients are comfortably managed on a four-day care map versus the traditional 7-10 days required with most open-heart procedures, allowing patients to recover faster. In as little as two weeks, patients have resumed day-to-day activities and even returned to their jobs.

Minimally invasive cardiac surgery also dramatically improves cosmetic results. Traditional open procedures require a 10-inch chest scar, whereas the NYU technique results in a substantially smaller, less visible "keyhole" incision on the side of the chest. For many women, the scar is almost unnoticeable as it may be underneath the breast.

An additional 80,000 patients worldwide have mitral valves that cannot be repaired and ultimately are entirely replaced with prosthetic technology, composed of a metal or mechanical valve or using treated tissue such as porcine (pig) valves for implantation.

In 2001, Drs. Colvin, Galloway and Grossi, working with engineers from Medtronic, designed the CG Future™ Band for use in mitral valve repair surgery to help restore, or "remodel," the leaking mitral valve opening to a more-normal shape. "The CG Future band restores proper valve coaptation and improves valve function after repair," according to Dr. Galloway, "The design of The Future Band allows the surgeon to achieve more predictable remodeling of the valve annulus while maintaining normal physiology and flexibility. This should lead to more predictable long-term results after valve repair surgery."

"The design of this valve repair system is truly futuristic," says Colvin, "The low profile band is designed for improved ease of implantation, which is advantageous in all cases, but especially valuable as minimally invasive techniques become more common."

Over the past 20 years, Drs. Colvin and Galloway have performed more than 2,500 valve repair cases at New York University Medical Center, with Dr. Colvin performing the world's first minimally invasive mitral valve repair in 1996.

The educational webcast will be available at http://www.OR-LIVE.com/medtronic/1283 and archived for medical professionals and patients to view.