US surgeons perform robotic heart transplant with no chest incision

In a groundbreaking first for the United States, surgeons at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston successfully performed a fully robotic heart transplant without opening the chest or cutting through the breastbone. Conducted in early March 2025 on a 45-year-old man with advanced heart failure, the procedure utilized robotic tools to make small incisions and navigate through the preperitoneal space, enabling the removal of the diseased heart and implantation of the donor organ. This minimally invasive approach significantly reduced surgical trauma, blood loss, infection risk, and improved recovery by preserving the chest wall’s integrity. The robotic heart transplant marks a major advancement in transplant surgery, combining robotic precision with one of medicine’s most complex operations. Unlike traditional open-chest transplants, this method avoids bone cutting, which lowers the need for blood transfusions and reduces the risk of antibody development that can lead to organ rejection. The patient was discharged a month after surgery without complications, highlighting the potential for faster mobilization, better lung