PubMed Posts

Objectives: Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has emerged as a safe and efficacious alternative approach to conventional thoracotomy for selected patients with non-small-cell lung cancer. The aim of the present study was to assess the current clinical practice of VATS among the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons (ESTS) members.

Methods: A standardized questionnaire was sent to thoracic surgeons on the ESTS mailing list, with collection of data on demographics, use of multiportal or uniportal VATS, institutional experience with VATS procedures and proportion of operations performed by different approaches. Analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software.

Results: Complete questionnaire results were collected from 100 unique institutions in 31 countries, representing data on the clinical practice of 461 board-certified thoracic surgeons. Three hundred and twenty-four of the 461 (70%) surgeons claimed to perform anatomical VATS resections, with a total estimated caseload of 9519 resections per year. Two hundred and thirty-one (50%) surgeons reported to have performed lobectomies primarily through the VATS approach. The case volume was significantly correlated to the number (P = 0.019) and proportion (P = 0.001) of surgeons who performed VATS anatomical resections. Overall, 47% of the centres performing anatomical VATS resections reported some use of uniportal approach. There was no association between the number of thoracic surgeons within an institution and the likelihood of performing uniportal VATS lobectomy.

Conclusions: Compared to previous surveys, results of the present European study suggested that there is a strong trend favouring VATS for a range of thoracic procedures in the current clinical setting. However, the use of uniportal VATS is still not yet widespread. The evolving adoption of VATS in Europe should be further assessed with regard to clinical outcomes in the form of large standardized registries.

This report presented an overview of the patient selection, technical considerations and clinical evidence for robotic mitral valve surgery. A review of comparative outcomes to medical therapy, sternotomy approach, and the MitraClip device suggested that robotic mitral valve surgery is safe and effective in specialized centres. Potential benefits include a reliable and durable repair, with reduced perioperative morbidity and improved quality of life. Future studies should aim to delineate mid- and long-term clinical and echocardiographic outcomes following robotic mitral valve repair compared to the conventional sternotomy approach.

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Background: Robotic-assisted coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) has been performed over the past decade. Despite encouraging results from selected centres, there is a paucity of robust clinical data to establish its clinical safety and efficacy. The present systematic review aimed to identify all relevant clinical data on robotic CABG. The primary endpoint was perioperative mortality, and secondary endpoints included perioperative morbidities, anastomotic complications, and long-term survival.

Methods: Electronic searches were performed using three online databases from their dates of inception to 2016. Relevant studies fulfilling the predefined search criteria were categorized according to surgical techniques as (I) totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass without cardiopulmonary bypass (TECAB off-pump); (II) TECAB on-pump; and robotic-assisted mammary artery harvesting followed by minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (robotic MIDCAB).

Results: The present systematic review identified 44 studies that fulfilled the study selection criteria, including nine studies in the TECAB off-pump group and 16 studies in the robotic MIDCAB group. Statistical analysis reported a pooled mortality of 1.7% for the TECAB off-pump group and 1.0% for the robotic MIDCAB group. Intraoperative details such as the number and location of grafts performed, operative times and conversion rates, as well as postoperative secondary endpoints such as morbidities, anastomotic complications and long-term outcomes were also summarized for both techniques.

Conclusions: A number of technical, logistic and cost-related issues continue to hinder the popularization of the robotic CABG procedure. Current clinical evidence is limited by a lack of randomized controlled trials, heterogeneous definition of techniques and complications, as well as a lack of robust clinical follow-up with routine angiography. Nonetheless, the present systematic review reported acceptable perioperative mortality rates for selected patients at specialized centres. These results should be considered as a useful benchmark for future studies, until further data is reported in the form of randomized trials.

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