Robotic heart surgery isn’t available at every heart center. At Cleveland Clinic, it’s an established way to treat many heart conditions.
With these procedures, our experienced heart surgeons control the surgical tools that are attached to robotic arms. This allows them to perform complex procedures with greater precision and through smaller incisions than open heart surgery. This minimally invasive approach means less pain, a lower risk of infection, a shorter hospital stay and a quicker recovery.
Cleveland Clinic is the largest heart surgery site in the U.S., with the world’s most experienced heart surgery team. We’ve performed more than 3,000 robotic heart operations, bringing proven experience and expertise to your care.
Cleveland Clinic is the only heart surgery program in the world to offer a full range of robotic heart operations, including combined procedures — from atrial fibrillation and valve repair and replacement to coronary bypass surgery and other complex procedures. We have also expanded our offerings to include robotic mitral valve replacement and totally endoscopic coronary artery bypass grafting (TECAB), making us one of the few centers in the world to offer these approaches.
When it’s a good fit for you, robotic heart surgery provides the benefits of a less invasive operation while delivering outstanding outcomes comparable to traditional open surgery. For mitral valve prolapse, our mitral valve repair rate is more than 99%. Patients from across the country and around the world choose our heart team for all types of cardiac care, where our expertise and commitment to excellent results make a difference.
At Cleveland Clinic, you can feel confident knowing you’re supported by a team of experts. Our robotic heart surgeons work closely with experienced anesthesiologists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and specialty nurses to provide personalized, coordinated and compassionate care before, during and after your procedure. Meet our team.
Our robotic heart surgeons have performed more than 3,000 robotic heart procedures, using two advanced robotic surgical systems dedicated exclusively to cardiac operations — both featuring the latest da Vinci 5™ platform.
We are committed to advancing cardiac care through ongoing research and innovation. Our surgeons have pioneered new approaches to robotic and minimally invasive heart surgery, with a focus on developing techniques that continue to improve outcomes and support faster recovery and lasting results.
Cleveland Clinic is nationally ranked for its heart care and recognized as a world leader in cardiovascular care.
Choosing the right surgical approach starts with understanding your individual needs. Our heart team carefully evaluates your condition, overall health and anatomy to determine whether robotic surgery is an appropriate option for you. When it is, a robotic approach offers a less invasive way to treat many heart conditions.
Important factors we consider include:
Before surgery, you’ll go through testing. These tests will give your surgery team a detailed picture of your heart, blood vessels and overall health. They’ll also help your surgeon understand your anatomy, identify anything that could affect surgery and plan your robotic procedure precisely.
Tests can include:
Our healthcare providers see patients at Main Campus.
Our renowned heart surgeons perform a full range of robotic procedures for many different heart conditions, from the routine to the complex. We combine the latest robotic technology, precise planning and team-based expertise to deliver thorough, personalized care.
Your mitral and tricuspid valves help blood move through different sides of your heart. If one of these valves leaks or doesn’t open well, we can often repair it to help it work better. Sometimes, we may decide to replace the damaged valve instead.
If your aortic valve is too narrow or leaking, your heart may have to work harder to send blood to the rest of your body. Your surgeon may use a robotic approach to replace it with a new valve.
Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat that can make your heart work harder than it should. A robotic Maze procedure creates small lines of scar tissue that help guide your heart’s electrical signals back into a steadier rhythm.
Some tumors can grow inside your heart and affect how blood moves through it. A robotic approach lets your surgeon remove the tumor through smaller incisions. This can help protect nearby healthy heart tissue.
Coronary artery bypass grafting helps blood flow around a blocked artery. With robotic surgery, your team may be able to do part or all of this bypass through tiny incisions versus a traditional, larger chest incision.
Some people are born with openings between their heart’s upper chambers, like an atrial septal defect or patent foramen ovale. These openings can affect how blood moves through your heart. If you have one of these congenital conditions, your surgeon may be able to close it robotically.
When the first part of your aorta bulges or weakens, repairing it can lower the risk of serious problems. This helps blood move safely from your heart to the rest of your body.
When you’re facing heart surgery and want to know if robotic surgery is an option for you, we encourage you to reach out to us, in person or virtually. A second opinion from our experienced heart team can help you better understand treatment options and feel more confident in your decision.
At Cleveland Clinic, we’ll review your diagnosis and test results and provide expert guidance on whether a robotic approach is right for you, or if another surgical option may be safer or more effective. Clarity can bring better confidence — and that’s what you deserve before taking the next step in your care.
Are you traveling to Cleveland Clinic from another city, state or country? Each year, more than 2,000 patients from other locations travel to Cleveland for their heart surgery. We’ll make your experience as easy and convenient as possible. Our travel guide can help navigate the ins and outs. From getting to and from the airport and finding a hotel or restaurant to shopping, banking or just relaxing, we’re here for you.
If you’re traveling from abroad, our Global Patient Services (GPS) can help make sure your needs are met before, during and after your visit. We’re here to help answer questions, schedule appointments, set up language translation and even coordinate follow-up care when you return home.
Interested in learning more about our robotic surgeries? Watch our heart specialists explain how robotic heart surgery works and what to expect.
Heart surgery is about so much more than just the operation itself. It’s also about getting back to the life you love. With a robotic approach, that journey is often shorter than you might expect. Our robotic heart surgeons use advanced technology to perform a full range of heart operations through small incisions, helping make recovery smoother and more comfortable. Robotic heart surgery gives us the ability to take you from surgery to recovery to life, sooner and with less disruption along the way.
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