Robotic Cardiac Surgery: Has This Improved Valve Repair Outcomes? - Dr. Raczkowski

Dr. Raczkowski:

Mitral valve, as an example, we have gone through an evolution where we replaced mitral valves once they got bad enough, and over the last 10-15 years the idea of repairing those normal valves, allowing the patient to have their own valve for as long as possible has really taken effect, and because of the experience gained with valve repairs, we know that those valve repairs are actually better than doing valve replacements.

With that knowledge in hand, we approach those patients who are trying to repair valves before we replace them. Because of that, we have been able to repair better than 95% of all the valves that have been presented to us. We feel that is a very strong indication of how highly qualified we are to do those valve repairs, and it benefits the patients the most.

The national database, which collects these complications, our results are certainly better than those open procedures. So we are very confident that patients who come in who need their valves repairs should be able to leave here with a minimal risk of having that procedure performed.

About Dr. Raczkowski, M.D.:
Dr. Allen Raczkowski, certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, leads the robotic heart surgery program at Banner Heart Hospital. He has performed nearly 400 procedures using that surgical system, making the Banner Heart Hospital robotic surgery program one of the top three in the nation.

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• Heart & Blood