Assessment of the learning curve of total thoracoscopic mitral valve
repair using cumulative sum analysis (CUSUM)
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the learning curve and safety of total
thoracoscopic mitral valve repair (MVP). Background: Total thoracoscopic
MVP is characterized by minimal trauma, minimal bleeding, and short
postoperative recovery time. The learning curve of any new procedure
needs to be evaluated for learning and replication. However, minimally
invasive mitral valve technique is a wide-ranging concept, no further
analysis of the outcomes and learning curve of total thoracoscopic
mitral valve repair has been performed. Methods: One hundred and fifty
consecutive patients who underwent minimally invasive MVP alone without
concurrent surgery were evaluated. Using Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)
time and Aortic clamping (AC) time as evaluation variables, we
visualized the learning curve for total thoracoscopic MVP using
Cumulative sum analysis. We also analyzed important postoperative
variables such as postoperative drainage, duration of mechanical
ventilation, ICU stay and postoperative hospital stay. Results: The
slope of the fitted curve was negative after 75 procedures, and the
learning curve could be crossed after the completion of the 75th
procedure when AC and CPB time were used as evaluation variables. And as
the number of surgical cases increased, CPB, AC, postoperative drainage,
duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU stay and postoperative hospital
stay all showed different degrees of decrease. The incidence of
postoperative adverse events is similar to conventional mitral valve
repair. Conclusions: Compared to conventional MVP, total thoracoscopic
MVP provides the same satisfactory surgical results and stabilization
can be achieved gradually after completion of the 75th procedure.