Surgeons in the United States have achieved a groundbreaking medical milestone, successfully performing the nation’s first fully robotic heart transplant on an adult patient. The procedure, executed at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, is being hailed as a major game-changer for cardiac surgery as it was completed without opening the patient’s chest or breaking any bones.

The revolutionary operation—only the second fully robotic heart transplant reported worldwide, following an earlier pediatric case in Saudi Arabia—shatters the conventional necessity of a median sternotomy, the process of sawing through the breastbone and spreading the ribs to access the heart.

The surgical team, led by Dr. Kenneth Liao, Chief of Cardiothoracic Transplantation, utilized the da Vinci robotic system to perform the complex, life-saving transplant. Instead of a large, invasive incision, the entire operation was conducted through a series of small, precise entry points, with the new heart being implanted through a small, strategically placed incision below the ribcage.

This minimally invasive approach offers immediate, profound benefits for the patient:

• Preserved Chest Wall Integrity: By avoiding the need to split the sternum, the risk of severe infection and wound-healing complications—especially critical for transplant patients on immunosuppressants—is drastically reduced.
• Reduced Trauma and Blood Loss: The procedure minimizes surgical trauma and excessive bleeding, reducing the need for blood transfusions.
• Accelerated Recovery: Preserving the chest structure allows for earlier mobility, improved respiratory function, and an overall faster, less painful recovery period compared to the months often required after traditional open-chest surgery.

The 45-year-old male patient, who was battling advanced heart failure, received the transplant in March 2025 and was discharged a month later with no reported complications, underscoring the success and efficacy of the robotic method.

“This robotic heart transplantation represents a remarkable, giant step forward in making even the most complex surgery safer,” said a statement from the medical center. “Our goal is to offer patients the safest, most effective, and least invasive procedures, and robotic technology allows us to do that in extraordinary ways.”

The landmark achievement sets a new global benchmark for transplant surgery, demonstrating the potential for robotics to transform patient care in the most critical of medical disciplines.