A comprehensive roadmap to minimally invasive coronary artery surgery

We are currently witnessing exciting developments in percutaneous coronary intervention and minimally invasive surgical coronary artery revascularization technology and innovative revascularization techniques. The benefits of less invasive cardiac surgical strategies are well reported, which is paralleled by increasing patient and referral base expectations that favour non-sternotomy alternatives. We are particularly pleased that the current series of the Journal of Visualized Surgery is devoted to providing readers with international perspectives on current and future minimally invasive coronary artery surgery perspectives. We are grateful towards various experts and world authorities in robotic-, endoscopic- and other variations of minimally invasive coronary artery surgery for their invaluable contributions and insights. Several manuscripts outline the basic principles of these techniques and how to initiate and maintain successful programs. In addition, various contributions that describe experiences, pearls and pitfalls are also included. The Journal of Visualized Surgery aims to present these relevant topics with additional adequate visual educational aids to optimally transmit a comprehensive learning experience from the authors to the readers. We trust that the contributions will enhance the reader’s knowledge in this field and favourably impact the application and outcomes of minimally invasive coronary artery surgery internationally.

We hope that you will enjoy this special series that intends to be highly didactic and informative.

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Provenance and Peer Review: This article was commissioned by the editorial office, Journal of Visualized Surgery for the series “International Perspectives on Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Revascularization”. This article did not undergo external peer review.

Conflicts of Interest: Both authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://jovs.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/jovs-23-40/coif). The series “International Perspectives on Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Revascularization” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. F.C. and J.M. served as the unpaid Guest Editors of the series and serve as unpaid editorial board members of Journal of Visualized Surgery from February 2019 to January 2025. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

Filip P. Casselman

Johan van der Merwe