Valve Repair First in New England Done With Robot...( Alfred man c...),Health

Alfred man chooses innovation after counseling from Patient Advocates in Gray.

Gray, ME (PRWEB) July 28, 2009 -- A York County man recently became the first person in New England to undergo a robot-assisted repair of the valve that allows blood into the heart, with support from a Maine company that helps patients select and obtain the best-possible treatment for serious conditions.

Thomas Holland of Alfred, Maine, received the mitral valve repair surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, after consulting with health professionals at Patient Advocates in Gray, Maine. The procedure, using the da Vinci Surgical System, had never previously been performed in New England.

During the eight-hour procedure, Dr. Arvind Agnihotri viewed the surgical area as a three-dimensional environment, magnified to 10 times its actual size. Agnihotri, a cardiac surgeon, controlled the da Vinci's actions through small, highly precise hand and wrist motions.

Holland chose the procedure after learning from nurse-advocates at Patient Advocates that the technique is less invasive than traditional surgery, which requires a much-larger incision and the splitting of the breastbone for access to the heart. The robot-assisted surgical option, which involves tiny incisions between ribs, also can reduce the risk of infection, minimize blood loss and cut recovery times by weeks.

"I know other people who have had valve surgery without the robot, and they have a lot longer recovery times. I feel like I could go back to work today," said Holland, a welder at The Baker Co. in Sanford. "The doctors didn't even have to give me one of those h
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