Health Watch: Robot Repairs Heart Valve

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It's a Philadelphia milestone; a robot has repaired a heart valve.

Robots can help make surgery more precise and quicker. Now, for the first time, doctors at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital have used a robot to repair a heart valve.

Charlie Terrana, 76, says he feels good enough to run just two days after having heart surgery. "I'm feeling great, I really am," said Terrana.

He is the first patient to have his mitral valve repaired with a robot at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

"The the robot makes it easier for us to visualize the mitral valve and repair it in a simple way that leads to shorter operative time and faster recovery for the patient," said Dr. Gurjyot Bajwa, a cardiothoracic surgeon.

Dr. Bajwa, who performed hundreds of the robotic surgeries at the Cleveland Clinic, is now with Jefferson.

The robotic hands and a camera are placed inside the patient with small incisions. They are controlled from a separate console. Video provided by Intuitive Surgical, makers of the da Vinci Robot, show its precision, like tying paper knots smaller than a dime.

Dr Bajwa says the robot hands "..can move 360 degrees just like a hand."

Traditionally, mitral valve repairs to control blood leakage in the heart involve opening the chest and a long, difficult recovery. That's something Terrana wanted to avoid. He's fit and active and in a hurry to get back to his busy life, which is why he decided to be the first at Jefferson to have surgery with a robot.

"I'm told five to six weeks recovery and I'll be able to play tennis again," said Terrana. He had the surgery Wednesday and is expected to go home Saturday.

For more information, visit http://www.jeffersonhospital.org/departments-and-services/heart-institute.aspx.

Reported by Stephanie Stahl, CBS 3