Oak Lawn medical center scores a first
The age of robots has truly arrived. Last October 30, Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn was the site of the first robotic heart surgery in Illinois history. The operation was a success, and the patient, 72-year-old Bill Costello, made a rapid recovery after his hospital stay. He was back at his two-day-a-week job before Christmas.

During the four-hour operation, surgeon Patroklos Pappas, M.D., sat at a computer-driven robot console about 10 feet from the operating table. From there he controlled a robotic device that actually performed the intricate mitral valve repair. (The mitral valve regulates blood flow from the heart’s left atrium, or receiving chamber, to its left ventricle, or pumping chamber.) Surgeon Antone Tatooles, M.D., made sure that all was well at the patient’s bedside.

Christ Medical Center is one of only 12 sites around the nation participating in a federally approved study of the new robotic technology called the da Vinci Surgical System. Nationally known cardiovascular surgeon Mark Slaughter, M.D., is the study’s principal investigator at the medical center.

Why have robots do heart surgery? Investigators hope their use will eventually enhance patient safety, reduce scarring, decrease chances of infection following surgery, speed overall recovery and cut healthcare costs.

The medical center hopes to identify an appropriate candidate soon for a second use of the ground-breaking robotic heart surgery.

As for Costello, an avid golfer who scheduled his surgery around the golf season, he hopes to be back to his game by spring. But there is no word that he’s willing to trust a robot with that.