On April 19, Yan Yang’s team from the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, successfully completed a minimally invasive aortic root replacement combined with mitral valvuloplasty, with the assistance of the hospital’s departments of Anesthesia and Surgery, and Cardiac Ultrasound. The operation was a break from the norm, as the chest was not opened. Instead, the right chest intercostal approach was used in a super difficult “bomb disposal” and “heart repair” operation. This is the first successful example of extra-high difficulty surgery in China.

The operation was performed under a small 6-7cm incision and was a simultaneous “minimally invasive aortic root replacement combined with mitral valvuloplasty”, which was a great test of the surgeon’s eyesight, endurance and surgical technique.

Minimally invasive techniques are an important milestone in the history of surgery and are a trend in surgery today. In the field of minimally invasive cardiac surgery, patients benefit not only from a reduction in the length of the surgical incision, but, more importantly, they benefit as well from minimized damage to the sternum, reduced post-operative complications and accelerated post-operative recovery on the basis of eradication of the primary pathology.