Transareolar Robotic-Assisted Access to the Mitral Valve.

During the past years, a rapid development and refinements of robotic heart valve techniques have led to consider robotic mitral valve (MV) surgery safe, effective, and durable. Robotic MV surgery has proven to be a cost-effective and cost-saving strategy in MV operations, being associated with reduced morbidity and mortality rates. We present a novel video-assisted transareolar approach to access the MV using the da Vinci Si HD telemanipulation system (Intuitive Surgical, Inc, Sunnyvale, CA USA). This technique is effective and reproducible, providing maximum patient satisfaction from both the clinical and cosmetic points of view.