Implementation of Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery in a Novice Center

Background/Objectives: The complexity of Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Surgery (MIMVS) could cause a slow learning curve and potentially patient harm. We thus investigated if a novice mitral valve center encountered difficulties implementing MIMVS. Methods: We investigated seven hundred and forty-eight mitral valve surgery patients, two years before and after MIMVS introduction. Results: We propensity score matched two hundred and sixty elective mitral valve patients for comparison, with one hundred and thirty patients in each group. Surgical- (5.5 vs. 4.3 h), Cardiopulmonary bypass- (180 vs. 102 min) and aortic cross-clamp times (98 vs. 81 min) became longer after MIMVS introduction. One-year mortality and in-hospital outcomes remained unaffected. Hospital length of stay shortened significantly after MIMVS (5 d vs. 7 d; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Adopting MIMVS in a mitral valve center without prior experience in the procedure showed feasibility, equally good outcome and shorter hospital stay when compared to conventional sternotomy.