Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog

Medtronic Inc. announced Monday that it will begin a study to treat patients requiring heart-valve replacement due to congenital defects. The first of its kind, the study will evaluate Fridley-based Medtronic’s Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve and Ensemble Transcatheter Delivery System.

Three U.S. medical centers will participate in the study, implanting the new device in 30 patients with the goal of reducing the number of open-heart surgeries they must undergo. The medical centers are the Children’s Hospital of Boston, Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York and the Miami Children’s Hospital.

Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) also said that the Melody valve and Ensemble system are not currently available in the United States, but it has received Canadian approval and the CE Mark approval in Europe for commercial sale.

See next story for an update on Edwards Lifesciences study.

About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates clinical research with the personal experiences of 135 former patients to help future patients and their caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 19th, 2007 at 9:37 pm and is filed under Medical Advances, Technology Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. |  Email This Post .