07/29/2025
Four patients who underwent robotically assisted aortic valve replacement (AVR) with transcervical access were able to resume an active life one week later without any restrictions, reporting low-level pain during recovery.
Cleveland Clinic cardiothoracic surgeon Marijan Koprivanac, MD, who performed the operations earlier this year, announced the results in a late-breaking presentation at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery annual meeting in May. The series is the first known report of the clinical application of transcervical robotic AVR.
“We are optimistic that this strategy could be a breakthrough for offering the benefits of surgical AVR without the lengthier and more painful recovery associated with current options,” says Dr. Koprivanac.
Robotic assistance for AVR is now in the vanguard of this evolution, conferring the advantages of smaller incisions, enhanced visualization and greater precision compared with other surgical methods. Combining robotics with a transcervical approach — potentially offering an even less-invasive option — is being explored by a few groups, but Dr. Koprivanac is unaware that it has been performed by others beyond feasibility studies in cadavers.
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