Video-atlas on minimally invasive mitral valve surgery—The David Adams technique

Median sternotomy has unquestionably evolved over recent decades. Modern sternotomy involves a 7-8 cm lower midline skin incision, tunneling of the subcutaneous tissues with subsequent creation of myocutaneous flaps, full sternotomy, and standard cardiopulmonary bypass techniques with central cannulation. In experienced centers, modern sternotomy may achieve all the goals of minimally invasive surgery, including excellent cosmesis, excellent postoperative pain control, low rates of bleeding and transfusion (our reexploration rate for bleeding is <1%), and the ability to perform any reconstructive technique that would be used in a standard sternotomy, with very high repair rates (our most recent series documented a repair rate exceeding 99% in an all-comers population of degenerative disease regardless of complexity).