"keyhole" heart surgery

  Dateline ran a segment last night on the benefits of mimimally invasive surgery, ie less pain, less blood loss, shorter recovery time etc.  Is this procedure an option for aortic valve replacement?  If so, can it be performed without heart-lung bypass?  Again, if it is an option would it be more or less preferable for a patient with osteogenesis and bleeding tendency?  In general, what are the pros and cons of this procedure vs. traditional open heart surgery?
  Thank you for this service
  Janelle
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Dear Janelle,
Thank you for your question.  Aortic valve surgery is not able to be done without going on heart-lung bypass.  I would recommend a traditional approach to replacement surgery for the aortic valve.  It gives the surgeon better views and more room to work and does not significantly increase hospital stay or pain compared to minimally invasive techniques.
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.