For more information about Dr. Lamelas and his minimally invasive heart procedure, click here or visit the UHealth blog. He needed surgery to replace a failing heart valve and went to see UHealth cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Joseph Lamelas, who pioneered a minimally invasive heart procedure. Ad“Why would someone need reoperative minimally invasive cardiac surgery?” asks Focusing on You anchor Pam Giganti. And performing the operation through a minimally invasive approach has many benefits,” Dr. Lamelas says. Instead of open surgery where the sternum is cracked to access the heart, Dr. Lamelas was able to perform the reoperative minimally invasive procedure on Rene to replace the infected valve.