Surgical Procedures

Robotic Biventricular Pacing for Heart Failure

Biventricular pacing for heart failure, also known as cardiac resynchronization therapy, has proven beneficial for many patients with end-stage cardiomyopathy and severe heart failure. The goal of the procedure is to help the right and left ventricles beat simultaneously, as they do in a healthy heart. Improving the heart's ability to beat effectively helps to reduce some of the symptoms of heart failure, including shortness of breath and fatigue.

The Columbia team has implanted several left ventricular leads and biventricular pacing systems via a totally thoracoscopic approach—using the da Vinci® robotic system to complete the procedure without opening the chest and without the use of the heart-lung machine. Patients in this series have required hospital stays of only a few days.