How I do it: self-retaining atrial retractors for robotic and minimally invasive mitral valve surgery.

Successful surgery, particularly on the heart valves, is dependent on excellent and consistent exposure of the operative field. In this report, we describe 2 types of new atrial retractors designed for robotic and minimally invasive mitral valve surgery. These simple and easy-to-handle atrial retractors provide exceptional and consistent exposure of the left atrium in robotic and minimally invasive mitral valve surgery and prevent traumatic injury.