Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Lynn Seto performed the area's first completely robotic mitral valve repairs in November on two local patients using the da Vinci Si HD Surgical System at Bay Medical-Sacred Heart.  This was a first for Bay Medical, but not for newly recruited Dr. Seto who has performed close to 500 less-invasive heart procedures.  This procedure is only offered in a handful of facilities in the Southeast with the closest being UAB in Birmingham, Alabama.  Mitral valve repairs and other heart surgeries are traditionally performed  through a sternotomy, a large open incision through the breastbone to expose the heart, however they are now significantly less invasive at Bay Medical-Sacred Heart.  Patients undergoing a robotic mitral valve repair have three small incisions on their side through their rib cage, no sternotomy, a shorter hospital stay, significantly less pain and scarring, less blood loss and less risk of infection along with a much faster recovery and return to normal activities.   The procedures in November are the first of many.  With three robotically trained cardiac surgeons on our medical staff — Dr. Greg England, Dr. Reed Finney, and now Dr. Lynn Seto — Bay Medical-Sacred Heart will be expanding this service into less-invasive bypass procedures as well.