Totally endoscopic atrial septal repair using no robotic techniques.

Standard surgical closure of an atrial septal defect via sternotomy is safe and effective. To avoid sternotomy and improve the cosmetic result, minimally invasive cardiac surgery has emerged as an alternative. Robot-assisted totally endoscopic atrial septal defect repair is convincingly superior, but the robotic system is expensive and complicated. We describe a technique of totally endoscopic closed-chest atrial septal defect closure without the aid of a robotic device. Twenty patients underwent totally endoscopic atrial septal defect repair using no robotic techniques between May 2009 and December 2009. No major intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed. One operation was converted to a conventional sternotomy because bleeding from the aortic root could not be controlled. Closure of an atrial septal defect can be performed safely and effectively via an endoscopic approach using no robotic techniques.