Dextera Surgical’s Microcutter 5/80™ And Cardiac Anastomosis Devices Featured At International Society For Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery Conference

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – June 12, 2017 – Dextera Surgical Inc. today announced that several leading surgeons highlighted the use of Dextera’s C-Port® Distal and PAS-Port® Proximal Anastomosis Systems as well as the MicroCutter 5/80 Stapler in a variety of less invasive surgical procedure presentations at the 14th Annual International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery (ISMICS) meeting held in Rome, Italy.

Cardiac Anastomosis Product Presentations
Two oral presentations featured Dextera’s automated anastomosis devices as an enabling tool for minimally invasive coronary bypass procedures. Dextera’s cardiac products are the only automated anastomosis products on the market today.

On Wednesday, June 7 during the Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) session, Mahesh K. Ramchandani, M.D., vice chair of cardiovascular surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital, demonstrated the use of the PAS-Port System to facilitate a minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) procedure.

Husam H. Balkhy, M.D., director of the Robotic and Minimally Invasive cardiac surgery program at the University of Chicago Medicine, gave an invited presentation at the Masters session on Hybrid Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG), Endovascular Coronary Skills, and Anastomotic Connectors session highlighting the use of the C-Port System to connect the bypass graft during totally endoscopic robotic cardiac surgery.

“The need for a hand-sewn anastomosis during a robotic bypass procedure has been one of the biggest factors preventing wider adoption of Totally Endoscopic Coronary Artery Bypass (TECAB) procedures to date,” commented Dr. Balkhy. “I have been using the only available automated anastomosis tool – the C-Port Flex-A® System – to precisely and reliably connect the graft to the coronary artery, and eliminate the need for a hand-sewn anastomosis. This device allows me to perform TECAB procedures more safely and in a broader range of patients in a much less invasive manner.”

The C-Port device was also featured in three other presentations in the cardiac surgery plenary session on Thursday June 8. Dr. Balkhy presented a paper detailing the use of the device to effectively execute the TECAB procedure on high risk patients; Dr. Hiroto Kitahara presented on the robotic cardiac surgery experience at the University of Chicago and highlighted the importance of the C-Port Flex A in robotic TECABs; and, Dr. Diego Avella presented a video of a unique case of combined robotic left lobectomy and TECAB using the C-Port device which allowed the patient to be discharged in 2 days. In addition, the device was described as being necessary for the execution of robotic TECABs in two posters presented at the meeting by the University of Chicago team.

MicroCutter 5/80 Presentations
On Thursday, June 8, Joel Dunning, M.D., of James Cook University Hospital, presented “VATS Microlobectomy: How do I do it” to demonstrate his unique approach to performing minimally-invasive lobectomies. This invited lecture was part of the Thoracic Masters Class, a session designed to provide specific instruction on the procedures expected to advance minimally invasive surgery. On Saturday, June 10, during session 1 of the Thoracic Movie Day, Marco Nardini, M.D., also of James Cook University Hospital, presented ”Microlobectomy, with Day 1 Discharge”, to demonstrate that many patients go home the day after Microlobectomy surgery. Both presentations highlighted the use of the MicroCutter 5/80 to help enable Microlobectomy procedures.