Cardiovascular Surgery—
When life slips off track.

“ The most advanced technology is only as
good as the surgical
team using it!”
— Assistant Professor of Surgery, Charles Lutz, MD Department of Surgery Division of Cardiac Surgery

Linda was staying in shape with kick boxing – and feeling at the top of her game – when she began to feel fatigued rather than energized by her exercise program. Stunned by her cardiologist’s diagnosis of a mitral valve defect, Linda was dreading heart surgery – and its long, slow road to recovery.

Then Linda learned about the revolutionary da Vinci Surgical System®, which University Hospital cardiac surgeon Dr. Charles Lutz at University Hospital was using for mitral valve repair. Minimally invasive surgery – including robotic assisted surgery such as da Vinci – can dramatically reduce the patient’s incision size, hospital stay, postoperative pain and recuperation.

For Linda, surgery with the da Vinci robot meant she was back up to speed in no time: walking the next day and working out at full speed seven weeks later.

When choosing her surgeon, Linda knew that surgical expertise was far more important than recuperative time. She had complete confidence in Dr. Lutz, who in 2004 was the first CNY surgeon to operate with the da Vinci surgical system. She also knew that University Hospital ranks among the top robotic assisted cardiac surgery programs in the world, according to da Vinci manufacturer, Intuitive.

"The most advanced technology is only as good as the surgical team using it," reports Dr. Lutz, whose high volume of da Vinci cases qualifies him to travel across the country and proctor other surgical teams tackling their first da Vinci procedures.