I am Taichi Sakaguchi, who has been appointed as the representative director.

Under the strong leadership of former representative director Sawa, and thanks to all of you, the Society has achieved success after success since its inception, including insurance reimbursement for thoracoscopic valvular surgery and the creation of a textbook. According to data from 2018, 30% of isolated mitral valve repairs and 6% of aortic valve replacements in Japan were performed using a right thoracotomy approach, and MICS is expected to become even more widespread in the future. We believe that the Society’s mission is to quickly establish a registry and certify specialists and instructors, and to safely popularize MICS.

We would like to work together with our members to liven up the Society, so we look forward to your continued support.

November 2, 2021

Taichi Sakaguchi Representative of the director, Japanese Association for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (J-MICS)