For the first time in Italy, Augmented Reality is entering a cardiac surgery operating room as an aid for minimally invasive surgery. This technology allows for a 3D reconstruction of an organ and gives the surgeon the ability to interact with the hologram that is created by the computer, thus simulating the surgical procedure that will then have to be performed in the patient. The surgery was performed at ISMETT-UPMC in Palermo - the medical center created by the international partnership between the Sicilian Region and UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) - by the team led by Professor Francesco Musumeci, Senior Consultant in Cardiac Surgery at ISMETT. This was a minimally invasive surgical procedure to close the left auricle, a small extroversion of the left atrium, for which AR was used. This type of procedure is indicated in patients with chronic atrial fibrillation who have contraindication to the use of anticoagulation therapy, with the aim of avoiding stroke due to thrombi that may form inside the auricle. The procedure is usually performed by percutaneous technique with the insertion, through a vein in the leg, of an occluder that opens umbrella-like at the mouth of the auricle, occluding it completely.
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