Medtronic launches new heart mitral valve

Medtronic has announced the release of its new heart mitral valve on the commercial market.

The valve is a composite annuloplasty ring which can be used by heart surgeons to repair narrowed or leaking mitral valves. It is billed as the industry’s first annuloplasty product that provides both semi-rigid posterior remodelling and fully flexible anterior support ? hence letting physiologic movement all through the cardiac cycle.

Mitral valve insufficiency occurs when freshly oxygenated blood does not flow properly from the ventricles when the heart is pumping. It is characterised by weakness, shortness of breath and excessive perspiration and can be congenital or caused by tissue overgrowth.

Oern Sturge, a spokesperson for Medtronic commented: “The CG Future COMPOSITE Ring offers the flexibility of a band and the confidence of a ring.

“This one-of-a-kind product was created with the patient and their implanting surgeon in mind. The composite design offers semi-rigid remodeling of the posterior portion of the mitral annulus with flexibility across the anterior, both of which are important in helping return patients to a normal functioning mitral valve after their surgery,” he added.

Mitral valves that mis-function are increasingly being repaired by surgeons with prosthetic valves rather than replaced, with 95,000 patients undergoing heart valve surgery in the US alone last year.

This form of therapy has been described as the first choice for degenerative valve disease because it reduces the requirement for strong anticoagulant medication among patients whose heart rhythm is not normal.

Total valve replacement products from Medtronic include the Hancock II tissue valve, Mosaic tissue valve and the stentless Freestyle tissue valve.

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