Heart surgery just went from brutal to barely noticeable.
In a world-first operation that borders on science fiction, surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic have replaced a failing heart valve through a tiny incision in the neck—no cracked chest, no rib spreaders, no weeks-long recovery. Just four precision-guided robotic arms, a hidden scar along a neck crease, and a surgical team that rewrote the rulebook on aortic valve replacement.
Dr. Marijan Koprivanac, the mastermind behind the procedure, didn’t just avoid the sternum—he eliminated it from the equation entirely. Traditional aortic valve replacement (AVR) means opening the chest wide, a brutal process that carries pain, risk, and lengthy rehab. Even the “minimally invasive” versions still involve partial sternotomies or rib incisions. But not this.
This time, the surgeons went in through the front of the neck.
Continue reading… “No Scalpel, No Sternum, No Problem: Surgeons Replace Heart Valve Through the Neck in Robotic World First”
