Welcome

The 5th FOCUS VALVE Training Course for Minimally Invasive Heart Valve Surgery at Innsbruck Medical University will not be just another opportunity to demonstrate the refined techniques and excellent results of this type of cardiac surgery, but focuses on basic skills required for minimal access heart surgery as well as specific topics like Barlow”s disease, treatment of asymptomatic patients with severe mitral regurgitation, intraoperative TEE and the surgeon”s alternative to TAVI: sutureless valves. We intend not to favor a certain approach or technique but aim to present and demonstrate all up-to-date minimally invasive techniques for all valves. Due to its rare availability robotic technique will not be covered. Our aim is to provide every cardiac surgeon with the required armamentarium to establish or improve an own minimally invasive program. For this reason in addition to the course we offer also wetlab training and by appointment also scrubbed-in visits to our OR as well as proctorship.

Moreover we feel that surgical confidence in interpretation of intraoperative TEE is a major precondition for satisfying surgical results and the common language for the dialogue between the echocardiographer and surgeon should be improved. To support this goal we offer a hands-on workshop on intraoperative TEE directed by highly experienced local and international experts in intraoperative TEE.

It is our ambition to further spread MICS!