ROYAL OAK, Mich. \u2013 Surgeons at Corewell Health in Metro Detroit have performed what the health system says is the world\u2019s first documented single-port robotic mitral valve repair, a breakthrough they believe could help make heart surgery less invasive for some patients.<\/p>\n
The procedure was performed on 60-year-old Patrick O\u2019Brien of Royal Oak, who became the first documented patient to undergo the technique. <\/p>\n
Instead of the traditional open-heart approach, which requires opening the chest through the breastbone, surgeons repaired O\u2019Brien\u2019s mitral valve using a robotic system through two small incisions.<\/p>\n
For decades, repairing a damaged mitral valve typically required open-heart surgery and a lengthy recovery. <\/p>\n
The new approach uses one robotic access port and one utility port, reducing the number of entry points compared with conventional robotic mitral valve surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve taken five robotic ports to perform complex mitral valve repair and shrunk it down to one robotic access port, plus one utility port,\u201d said Corewell Health William Beaumont University Dr. Rakesh Suri. \u201cIt\u2019s truly remarkable. We\u2019re seeing the future of heart surgery evolve right in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors say the minimally invasive technique is designed to reduce trauma while giving surgeons a detailed view inside the heart through a flexible camera. <\/p>\n
Fewer access points may mean less pain, less bleeding, and a faster recovery for eligible patients.<\/p>\n
For O\u2019Brien, the procedure came after a deeply personal decision to prioritize his health following the death of his wife from cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough that process, it made me rethink my kids and wanting to be there for them,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cI\u2019m trying really hard to do the things that she wanted me to do. And that was number one.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Corewell Health, O\u2019Brien was walking within hours of surgery and was discharged from the hospital after four days.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the opportunity to not have open-heart surgery, traditionally with your sternum cut open, and the long recovery time and the chance for complications and infections was just a really exciting opportunity for me,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cI jumped at the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors caution that the procedure will not replace every form of heart surgery, and not all patients are candidates. <\/p>\n
However, they say it represents another step toward less invasive cardiac care with the goal of shortening recovery times and helping patients return to normal activities sooner.<\/p>\n
The health system plans to continue evaluating the procedure as it expands its use in appropriately selected patients.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROYAL OAK, Mich. \u2013 Surgeons at Corewell Health in Metro Detroit have performed what the health system says…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[196339,97,252,253,22184,48223],"class_list":["post-770182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-corewell-health","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-oakland-county","tag-royal-oak"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}