[Management of aortic aneurysms in the endovascular era].

Abdominal aortic aneurysm is a disease seen in the elderly. Without intervention, an aneurysm can rupture which leads to death in most cases. Surgical resection was the gold standard treatment for many years but since two decades, endovascular repair has surged drastically.

[Robotic cardiac surgery].

Cardiac surgery has evolved towards less traumatic procedures. Minimal invasive cardiac surgery is a well-established technic offering patients the same level of excellence accomplished with open surgery. Technological evolution has lead to robotic assistance for minimal invasive cardiac surgery, helping surgeons to perform even better in cardiac repairs or reconstructions.

[Minimal invasive cardiac surgery].

With the advent of cardiopulmonary bypass in 1953, complex intracardiac procedures were developed and a full sternotomy was established as the standard approach for these. With this technique, cardiac surgery achieved excellent immediate and long-term results that became the gold standard in a variety of cardiac pathologies, both congenital and acquired. By the late 90's, new techniques were developed, associated with less surgical trauma, decreased postoperative pain and faster functional recovery.

The development of cardiac surgery in an emerging country: a completed project.

The necessity to develop cardiac surgery centers in the emerging world is widely accepted. Numerous groups and organizations from the developed world are involved in such work; however, the best method in which to develop a sustainable center in the emerging world is still debated. Herein, we present an approach that we have used in several such projects, which involves regular and frequent instructional visits with progressive reduction of our instructional support.