New York, NY (July 25, 2001) -- A 33-year-old mother of two from Yonkers, New York is the first patient in the U.S. to receive robotically-assisted atrial septal defect repair, without a chest incision of any kind. The operation was performed as part of a clinical trial sanctioned by the FDA at NewYork-Presbyterian's Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center on July 24, 2001. Atrial septal defect repair, until this point, had required open-chest surgery, which involves an eight to ten-inch incision made in the chest. Robotically-assisted surgery requires only three pencil-sized holes made between the ribs. Through these holes, two robotic "arms" and an endoscope (a tiny camera) gain access to the heart, making surgery possible without opening the chest.

Once the stuff of science fiction, robot technology has progressed with incredible speed. Cardiac surgeons at Columbia Presbyterian expect the success of this sentinel case will further opportunities for robotic-assisted techniques in cardiac disease management. The surgical robot in use, Intuitive Surgical's da VinciTM Surgical System, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for a number of clinical trials in heart surgery. As of July 2001, the cardiac surgery team at Columbia Presbyterian has performed nearly 20 robotic cardiac operations, including internal mammary artery (IMA) harvests, mitral valve repair, and atrial septal defect repair. Columbia Presbyterian is one of only nine U.S. medical centers to participate in the Mitral Valve Repair Trial and will be one of the first U.S. centers to perform total endoscopic coronary bypass surgery this fall.

The Columbia Presbyterian Cardiothoracic Surgery Team includes Dr. Michael Argenziano, director of robotic cardiac surgery and principal investigator of the first U.S. trial of robotic atrial septal defect closure; Dr. Mehmet Oz, director of the Cardiovascular Institute; and Dr. Craig Smith, chief of cardiothoracic surgery.