Dr. Rakesh Suri pioneers new robotic heart surgery

On July 14, Dr. Rakesh Suri, regional director of Cardiac Surgery Robotics and Innovation at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, performed the world’s first single-port robotic mitral valve repair.

“For two decades, we’ve worked to make heart surgery safer and less invasive,” said Dr. Suri. “With single-port robotic surgery, we can now repair the heart through one small robotic port and a tiny access incision — streamlining the procedure, reducing complexity and enhancing safety — ultimately delivering a better experience and better outcomes for patients.”

The first recipient of this groundbreaking procedure was 60-year-old Patrick O’Brien, a Royal Oak resident and a lifelong Corewell Health patient whose heart murmur had begun causing heart palpitations and lightheadedness.
“I decided it was time to take care of my own health after losing my wife to cancer last fall, and I’m grateful I did,” said Mr. O’Brien. “This procedure has given me a new lease on life. I couldn’t be more grateful to Dr. Suri and his team.”

Lamont Yoder, president of Corewell Health East, praised the groundbreaking moment.

“We are continuously challenging ourselves to think differently and use our expertise to improve the patient experience, and Dr. Suri’s work is a fantastic example of that,” Yoder said.

Mr. O’Brien can attest to this new and improved patient experience.

“I watched my dad go through two open-heart surgeries in the 1980s, and the recovery was long and difficult,” he said. “Less than a week after my procedure, I’m already back to many of my normal activities.”

In large part thanks to philanthropic support, Corewell Health clinicians can continue to remain on the leading edge of care and provide these sorts of groundbreaking procedures to patients throughout Southeast Michigan and beyond.