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Dr. Argenziano Reports Shorter Hospital Stay, Improved Recovery Time with Robotically Assisted Heart Surgery

Preliminary results of study presented at American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, held in Chicago

Michael Argenziano, MD Director, Robotic Cardiac Surgery

Dr. Michael Argenziano presented preliminary findings of a study to investigate the benefits of robotic open-heart surgery for correcting atrial septal defect (ASD). In July 2001, using a surgical robot, Dr. Argenziano led a team at Columbia University Medical Center that performed the first open-heart surgery without opening the chest. Since then, 17 patients have received the procedure. Preliminary results point to improvements in recovery time and quality of life, Dr. Argenziano told scientists in a presentation at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, held in Chicago in November 2002. "We've seen dramatic improvements in hospital stay and recovery time. Also, patients experienced comparatively improved social functions and less pain postoperatively." The study showed that hospital stays were two to four days shorter than with open-chest heart surgery, and that patients were able to return to work 50 percent faster than those having open-heart surgery.

Individuals with ASD are born with an abnormal opening between the two upper chambers of the heart. Untreated, ASD can result in pulmonary hypertension, congestive heart failure, atrial arrhythmias, and an increased risk of stroke.

© 1999 Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

© 2000 Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

CUMC Surgeons Perform Nation's First Robotically-Assisted Coronary Artery Bypass

Dr. Michael Argenziano, Director of Robotic Cardiac Surgery, and Dr. Craig R. Smith, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center, performed the nation's first robotically-assisted coronary artery bypass operation in January 2002. Coronary artery bypass surgery is one of the most common operations performed in the U.S., and this historic operation follows the successes of other robotically-assisted surgeries at Columbia University Medical Center.

The Future Is Now: Columbia University Medical Center Surgeons Perform Nation's First Robot-Assisted Atrial Septal Defect Heart Surgery

© 1998 Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

On July 24, 2001, cardiac surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's Columbia University Medical Center performed the first robotically-assisted atrial septal defect repair, without a chest incision of any kind. Michael Argenziano MD, Director of Robotic Cardiac Surgery, and Mehmet C. Oz MD, Director of the Cardiovascular Institute, performed the surgery on a 33-year-old mother of two young children. The young woman chose to become a pioneer by participating in the FDA-sanctioned clinical trial because it promised a fast recovery time that would allow her to return to her husband and children quickly, and it also left minimal scar tissue. It was expected that her hospital stay would be several days less than if she had had open-heart surgery, and that her recovery period would be significantly reduced as well.

News of the surgery was presented at a news conference at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital with the surgeons and the patient and her family. The surgery was featured by ABC-Good Morning America, Bloomberg Radio and Bloomberg News, Crain's Health Pulse, all of New York's major television news programs including the Daily News, New York Newsday, Hurriyet (Turkish news), Ch. 41 (Univision), the Fox News Channel (national), and the Charlie Rose Show.