Thoracoscopic closure of atrial septal defect in perfused beating hearts

Objective: This study aims to characterize the mid and long-term clinical outcomes of 856 atrial septal defect cases that underwent closure using MTCST without the assistance of a robotic system.

Methods: From June 2009 to September 2023, a total of 856 cases at our center underwent selective repair of a secundum-type atrial septal defect using MTCST without Da Vinci robotic assistance. According to whether the operation was performed during an arrested heart or not, patients were divided into arrested heart group (n = 110) and beating heart group (n = 746). Cardiopulmonary bypass was established peripherally. Three-port incisions in the right chest were conducted first, followed by a pericardiotomy, superior and inferior vena cava snaring, atriotomy, and the closure of atrial septal defect under a thoracoscope. Patients were followed up from 3 months to 12 years postoperatively.

Results: The exclusively MTCST for atrial septal defect closure was successfully performed without any in-hospital mortality in both groups. None of the procedures required an alternative technique for the closure. There were significant learning curves for cardiopulmonary bypass time and operation time. No residual shunt was observed in all patients during the follow-up transthoracic echocardiography at 5-day and 3-month timepoints postoperatively.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that an exclusively MTCST for atrial septal defect repair is safe, simple, and minimally invasive. Exclusively MTCST is a new desirable alternative beside robotic-assisted atrial septal defect repair.