Minimally invasive cardiac surgeries in 2021: annual report by Japanese society of minimally invasive cardiac surgery

Although minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS) procedures are widely performed throughout Japan, nationwide data regarding treated cases are limited. Up-to-date results for cardiovascular surgery are vital for quality control in clinical practice. Presented here is the 2021 annual report based on data from the Japan Cardiovascular Surgery Database (JCVSD).

Records noted in the JCVSD of patients who underwent mitral valve surgery, aortic valve replacement (AVR), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), atrial septum defect (ASD) closure, or cardiac tumor resection via right or left minithoracotomy, as well as thoracoscopic- or port-assisted, or robotic-assisted approaches, in 2021 were examined. Perioperative parameters including mortality and morbidity was evaluated.

The 30-day and in-hospital mortalities for isolated mitral valve repair (n = 1211) were 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively, while those for all mitral valve repair (n = 2017) were 0.05% and 0.2%, respectively. More than 100 facilities were found to perform fewer than five MICS mitral valve surgery cases per year. As for MICS-AVR, 30-day and in-hospital mortalities for isolated AVR (n = 818) were 0.5% and 0.5%, respectively, while those for all AVR (n = 987) were 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively. Additionally, those for MICS-CABG (n = 400) were 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively. Those for ASD (n = 183) and cardiac tumor (n = 96), were 0.5% and 0.5%, respectively, and 0% and 1.0%, respectively.

This is the first report of MICS results of procedures performed in Japan based on the 2021 JCVSD data. Additional results obtained with a similar data collection method are expected and details on MICS are being collected starting 2024.