Robotic Operation for Heart Valve Reconstruction Encourages New Tissue Growth

Infective Endocarditis is a potentially fatal bacterial disease that affects the heart's tricuspid valve. Now, though, a new reconstructive technique is currently being implemented in order to formulate the growth of new tissue, avoiding permanent tissue damage on the right dorsal side of the heart.

The surgery, considered a "new lease on life", has been extended to patients at the Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia. T. Sloane Guy, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Surgery, Section Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery, and Chief of Robotics at Temple University School of Medicine. (You can read more about him in this EurekAlert! article.) He is one of a dozen cardiovascular surgeons in the entire U.S. who has performed this procedure. In 2013 he became one of the first to perform the endoscopic reconstruction robotically, establishing himself as one of the pioneers of said surgery.

Although robotic surgery is a groundbreaking tool in medicine, it has been criticized for its high cost and many failures. Dr. Guy rebuts all of the criticisms with his discovery of the benefits from this specific endoscopic robotic heart surgery: It minimized the size of incisions made in the chest, and its robotic-assisted tools and techniques allowed for high-precision and fine-drawn movements. These are two aspects he believes gives it the edge over traditional surgical techniques.

Dr. Guy delivered a video presentation on his research, findings, and practice of the surgery today at the 50^th annual Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) in Orlando, FL.

For the procedure, he used a sheet of biscaffolding formed in the shape of a tube to serve as the new valve in the previously damaged heart. Dr. Guy conducted this in his most recent surgery after completely removing the damaged tissue from the patient's heart. The biscaffold consisted of ECM, which is an acellular meshwork of fiber and carbohydrate polymers that serve to build new tissue where the damaged tissue once was. Since it's made of natural materials, it is eventually replaced by the patient's own cells and absorbed by the body. The details and discoveries of this procedure are nothing short of groundbreaking.