title: Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery versus Conventional Median Sternotomy for Atrial Septal Defect Closure.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Median sternotomy is the standard approach for atrial septal defect (ASD) closure. However, minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) has been introduced at many centers in adult/grown-up congenital heart patients. We retrospectively reviewed the results of right anterolateral thoracotomy compared with conventional median sternotomy (CMS) for ASD closure at Seoul National University Hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed 60 adult patients who underwent isolated ASD closure from January 2004 to December 2013 (42 in the CMS group, 18 in the MICS group). Preoperative, operative, and postoperative data were collected and compared between the 2 groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The MICS group was younger (44.6 years vs. 32.4 years, p=0.002) and included more females (66.7% vs. 94.4%, p=0.025) than the CMS group. Operation time (188.4 minutes vs. 286.7 minutes, p<0.001), cardiopulmonary bypass time (72.7 minutes vs. 125.8 minutes, p<0.001), and aortic cross-clamp time (25.5 minutes vs. 45.6 minutes, p<0.001) were significantly longer in the MICS group. However, there were no significant differences in morbidity and mortality between groups. Only chest tube drainage in the first 24 hours (627.1 mL vs. 306.1 mL, p<0.001) exhibited a significant difference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MICS via right anterolateral thoracotomy is an alternative choice for ASD closure. The results demonstrated similar morbidity and mortality between groups, and favored MICS in chest tube drainage in the first 24 hours.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital.
authors.forename: Joon Chul
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital.
authors.forename: Kyung-Hwan
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Atrial heart septal defects; Congenital heart disease; Minimally invasive surgery; Sternotomy