Evaluation of a new left atrial retractor for minimally invasive mitral valve surgery

Optimizing the exposure in minimally invasive mitral surgery: a new left atrial retractor system

“…It gently retracts the atrial walls, creating a conical space, which leaves a free 1-cm rim of atrial muscle all around the mitral annulus, protecting atrial wall by accidental damage but providing little space for suturing. Furthermore, this kind of retraction may increase the risk of injury of aortic cusps and left ventricular outflow tract, because the mitral annulus is pushed toward the interventricular septum (11,12).…”