Robotic Heart Surgery Program Flourishes at Columbia

By Brenda Lange

The new Robotic Cardiac Surgery Program at Columbia has performed more than 100 procedures in its first year, including repairs of atrial septal defects in children as young as six.

Robotic surgery pioneer Arnar Geirsson, MD, arrived in 2023 from Yale to create the program and further develop Columbia’s expertise in robotic cardiac surgery and minimally invasive cardiac surgery. At Yale, Dr. Geirsson was central to the development of robotic techniques for mitral valve repair, a focus of Columbia’s program, and other minimally invasive and robotic cardiac surgical procedures.

Though some of the world’s first robotic surgeries were performed on the heart, first-generation robotic systems were difficult to use for heart surgery, and adoption of robotic techniques for heart surgery stalled. Since the arrival five to 10 years ago of a newer generation of surgical robots with greater capabilities, surgeons are increasingly developing procedures for heart surgery, and the number of cardiac robotic surgeries has rapidly increased.

“The acceptance of robotic surgery by the public has grown over the past few years,” says Dr. Geirsson, who is director of the Cardiovascular Institute and Surgical Heart Valve Program at NewYork-Presbyterian/ Columbia University Irving Medical Center and professor of surgery at VP&S. “Patients come specifically to us to learn more about robotic options, and we have a high level of overall satisfaction with the robotics program, which is helping us to grow.”

In robotic heart surgery, a cardiac surgeon makes small incisions in the patient’s chest wall allowing the robotic arms to gain access to the heart while the surgeon controls the machine’s movements from a computer console. Conditions that may be treated with this approach include cardiac tumors, atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, and heart valve disease.

“Robotic cardiac surgery is more precise and less invasive, lowers the risk of infection, and speeds recovery time with less pain,” Dr. Geirsson says, adding that studies confirm that minimally invasive techniques such as robotic surgery are as successful and as safe as traditional, open- heart techniques done through sternotomy.

Congenital heart disease is another area where Dr. Geirsson’s team is making a mark. Earlier this year, a team led by Emile Bacha, MD, director of congenital and pediatric cardiac surgery, performed the first robotic surgery to correct a rare heart defect, scimitar syndrome, in an adult patient. In patients with scimitar syndrome, blood enters the right side of the heart when leaving the lungs, rather than entering the left side, causing shortness of breath and fatigue.

The Columbia approach showed that robotic techniques for the repair of scimitar syndrome are safe and effective in select adult patients. In 2024, the surgeons presented their techniques at the World Summit for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery in June and at the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society annual meeting in October.

“Our goal is to continue to offer all options to our patients—from large, open operations to robotic procedures—safely and effectively,” Dr. Geirsson says. “At Columbia, people can get the best therapy, however it is performed.”

For more information, contact https://columbiasurgery.org/heart/robotic-cardiac-surgery-columbia or 212-305-8312.