Heart surgery guideRequest a specialist assessment
Heart surgery guide/Joanna Chikwe

Joanna Chikwe · Decision guide

Joanna Chikwe: robotic mitral repair and Barlow disease

Robotic mitral repair with anatomy-specific durability evidence · Los Angeles, United States

Research by Yevhenii Kozlov · Co-Founder of BookimedUpdated 8 October 2026Sources linked throughout

At a glance

Joanna Chikwe chairs cardiac surgery at Cedars-Sinai’s Smidt Heart Institute. Her coauthored studies distinguish routine degenerative prolapse from complex Barlow disease and follow recurrent leakage as well as repair completion.

Large institutional repair series

Across four surgeons and 1,410 robotic operations, 1,234 of 1,237 degenerative valves were repaired; operative mortality overall was 0.3%.

Sources: Eliminating the learning curve in robotic mitral valve repair: Results from 1400 patients.

Complex anatomy has different follow-up

A separate analysis included 111 Barlow cases within a 924-patient registry and identified Barlow disease as a predictor of late failure.

Sources: Robotic repair for Barlow mitral regurgitation: Repairability, safety, and durability.

Durability endpoint

For Barlow cases, reported five-year survival free from greater-than-moderate leakage was 92%, with a wide 80.2%–98.1% confidence interval.

Sources: Robotic repair for Barlow mitral regurgitation: Repairability, safety, and durability.

Portrait of Joanna ChikwePortrait source ↗

cardiac surgeon

Joanna Chikwe

Cedars-Sinai →

Chair, Department of Cardiac Surgery, Smidt Heart Institute

Chair, Department of Cardiac Surgery, Smidt Heart Institute · Los Angeles, United States.

Read the clinical or research source ↗
Request a specialist assessment

Your diagnosis, selected specialist and treatment priorities.

Benefits and limitations

Potential advantages

Trade-offs and limits

Procedure-specific research

A programme of 1,410 robotic mitral operations

Chikwe was first author of a 2005–2023 registry study involving four surgeons. Of 1,237 degenerative cases, 1,234 were repaired; overall operative mortality was 0.3%. The report describes favourable outcomes as subsequent surgeons joined an experienced programme.

How to interpret this: Historical institutional results across four surgeons, not 1,410 operations by Chikwe. Most degenerative cases had isolated P2 prolapse; results should not be assumed for every complex valve.

Sources: Eliminating the learning curve in robotic mitral valve repair: Results from 1400 patients.

Barlow durability measured separately

The Barlow analysis reported 92% survival free from greater-than-moderate regurgitation at five years, with a wide 95% confidence interval of 80.2%–98.1%.

How to interpret this: This endpoint differs from freedom from reoperation and from absence of any residual regurgitation. Nonrandomized programme follow-up.

Sources: Robotic repair for Barlow mitral regurgitation: Repairability, safety, and durability.

Clinical programme

Cedars-Sinai →

Los Angeles, United States

Cedars-Sinai’s Smidt programme has studied both an expanding robotic team and the durability of complex Barlow repair. Its evidence distinguishes getting a valve repaired from preventing recurrent leakage years later.

Sources: Eliminating the learning curve in robotic mitral valve repair: Results from 1400 patients. · Robotic repair for Barlow mitral regurgitation: Repairability, safety, and durability. · Joanna Chikwe, MD · Joanna Chikwe clinical profile

Explore the programme and other specialists →

Continue your guide

Related heart surgery guides

Cedars-SinaiSpecialistsCompare surgeon expertiseMitral repairMinimally invasive

Turn information into your next step.

Free Bookimed support. Compare options before deciding.

Request a specialist assessment
Request a specialist assessment

Your diagnosis, selected specialist and treatment priorities.