Prognosis
Heart Replacement Valves From Edwards and Medtronic Beat Surgery
- Company-sponsored findings will expand use of the devices
- Edwards valve cut death, stroke and rehospitalization rates
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Two new studies found that for patients with damaged aortic valves, it may be safer and more effective to thread a replacement valve into the body with a catheter rather than cracking open the chest for open-heart surgery.
For decades, surgeons have repaired leaky aortic valves with one of medicine’s most dramatic procedures, splitting the sternum and stopping the heart to sew a new valve in place while the patient is kept alive by machines. The new valves from Edwards Lifesciences Corp. and Medtronic Plc can be inserted through an incision in the leg, threaded up to the heart, and then fixed in place far less invasively.