title: Robotic cardiac surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To outline current techniques in robotic cardiac surgery and to report the recent results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Robot-assisted surgery is the latest iteration toward less-invasive surgical procedures. Cardiac surgeons have slowly adopted robotic techniques into their armamentarium. In particular, robotic mitral valve surgery has evolved over the last decade and become the preferred method of mitral valve repair and replacement at certain specialized centers worldwide because of excellent results. Robotic single-vessel and double-vessel total endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting procedures have likewise been standardized on the beating and arrested heart. Other cardiac procedures are in various stages of evolution. Results to date have matched the outcomes of major trials for sternotomy-based procedures. In addition, patients may benefit from shorter hospital stays and experience faster return to full activity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Stepwise progression of robotic technology and procedure development will continue to make robotic operations simpler and more efficient, which will encourage more surgeons to take up this technology and extend the benefits of robotic surgery to a larger patient population. Long-term results are needed to determine whether robotic techniques could become the new standard in cardiac surgery.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. elehr@smail.umaryland.edu
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lehr
authors.forename: Evelio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: W Randolph
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Chitwood
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000601:surgery; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D006330:Heart Defects, Congenital / Q000601:surgery; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008943:Mitral Valve / Q000601:surgery; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization; D012371:Robotics / Q000379:methods*