Robotic Heart Surgery First at London Health Sciences Centre

For Viola Addison the emergency heart surgery at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) was life changing and she had robotics to thank for it. The cardiac surgery team that operated on her closed a hole in the heart during the operation. The LHSC is not new to robotic surgery but the procedure was used for the first time in an emergency surgery on Viola.

Dr. Bob Kiaii said that Viola needed an immediate repair for a hole in her heart caused by a pacemaker lead that had perforated the wall of the heart. In conventional treatment this would need open chest surgery but the robotic treatment that she took made the surgery much less invasive.

It also allowed Dr Kiaii to place a suture around the hole where the pacemaker lead had perforated the wall of her heart while the pacemaker lead was pulled back into position. Another plus was that the patient had to spend just two days recovering in the hospital. A much shorter duration than what an open chest surgery would have entailed.

The cardiac team may have only used the robotics arm on elective surgeries since 1999 but this was the first time that they have used the robotic surgery procedure in an emergency. London Health Science Centre's President and CEO, Bonnie Adamson congratulated the LHSC staff and surgeons saying that this was a great example of the ongoing and proud tradition of medical firsts at LHSC.