Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery: A State-of-the-Art Review

Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS) was developed in the late 1990s and has taken giant strides over the last 30 years. Nowadays, it is an important part of the cardiac surgery practice, accounting for one-third of total heart surgeries globally, with remarkable results. It is mostly performed for Mitral Valve repair but also for Aortic Valve Replacement and coronary artery bypass. However, the chronological evolution that led MICS to its current status has never been properly described. The best format to share a historical journey is the state-of-the-art (SotA) review. To the best of our knowledge, there are no orthodox SotA reviews on MICS. The aim of our study is to describe the current key MICS techniques, their historical development, and to discuss their role in the future of our specialty.