BASED LARGELY ON THE success of laparoscopic surgery in the 1990s, minimally invasive surgical approaches have gained widespread acceptance among many surgical specialties; cardiac surgery is no exception. In addition, the lay press and Internet are replete with reports of cardiac valve repair or replacement through small incisions with reportedly improved recovery times and cosmesis. Perhaps the most dramatic change to the surgical approach of valvular repair is with the use of robotic assistance (Fig 1).
