Medtronic Announces CE Mark Approval

Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
G

Guest

Not sure if anyone has shared this yet. This press release came from an uncle of mine....




Melody Transcatheter Valve and Ensemble Delivery System is the First Catheter-Based Therapy System Approved for Valve Replacement


MINNEAPOLIS ? October 4, 2006 ? Signaling a new frontier in the use of transcatheter valve technology, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) announced today that it has received CE Mark approval for its Melody? Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve and Ensemble? Transcatheter Delivery System. The system is the first of its kind worldwide to treat congenital patients with structural heart disease requiring pulmonary heart valve replacement.

The Medtronic Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve and Ensemble Transcatheter Delivery System is designed to benefit patients with congenital heart defects involving the connection between their right ventricle and pulmonary artery. Oftentimes, this type of defect requires open heart surgery early in life to implant a prosthetic valved-conduit to establish adequate blood flow from the heart to the lungs. However, the functional life span of these conduits is relatively limited, and as a result most patients with this type of defect are committed to multiple open heart surgeries over their lifetime. The Melody valve and Ensemble system provide a non-surgical means to restore effective valve function and prolong the functional life of prosthetic conduits, thereby reducing the number of open heart surgeries for these patients throughout their lifetime.

According to the American Heart Association, congenital heart defects are the No. 1 birth defect worldwide. In the United States alone, more than 25,000 babies are born each year with a congenital heart defect. Approximately 22 percent of these babies born with congenital heart disease have defects disrupting the blood flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery.

?While the population that will benefit from this new technology is relatively small, Medtronic is committed to patient-centered lifetime management of congenital heart disease,? said Oern Stuge, MD, senior vice president and president of the Cardiac Surgery business at Medtronic. ?The Melody Valve and Ensemble System are examples of Medtronic?s commitment to evolving the science and focus of structural heart disease. This focus further demonstrates our dedication to delivering innovative valve technology that addresses unmet patient needs. By providing less invasive options for physicians and therefore eliminating even one open heart procedure for a patient, we improve that patient?s quality of life immeasurably.?

Medtronic has partnered with Professor Philipp Bonhoeffer, professor and chief of cardiology and director of the Catheterization Laboratory, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) in London, and NuMed, a pediatric catheter company in the development of the Melody Valve and Ensemble System. A pioneer in transcatheter valve technology, Professor Bonhoeffer implanted the world?s first transcatheter valve in September 2000. To date, more than 150 patients worldwide have been implanted with the Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve.

Transcatheter valve technology represents a less invasive means to treat heart valve disease and is designed to allow physicians to deliver replacement valves via a catheter through the body?s cardiovascular system, thus eliminating the need to open the chest. Traditionally, open heart surgery has been required to correct the problem and it is not unusual for a patient to undergo multiple, open-heart surgeries during their lifetime. Patients with this condition tire very easily, as the heart over-exerts itself trying to get oxygenated blood throughout the body.

?To reopen the chest many times is obviously uncomfortable for the patient but also comes with risk. By using the Melody Valve and Ensemble System, we can now avoid the open chest procedure and instead perform the same procedure safely, quickly, and more comfortably,? said Professor Bonhoeffer.

CE Mark Approval gives Medtronic the ability to train and educate physicians in Europe in preparation for implanting the Melody? and Ensemble? System so that more patients can benefit from this innovative treatment. With proper training in place, Medtronic will work with hospitals across Europe in gaining access to this new technology.

While the Melody Valve and Ensemble System are not currently available in the United States, Medtronic is working with the United States Food and Drug Administration to pursue plans to apply this new approach in transcatheter valve therapy for patients in the U.S.

About Medtronic
Medtronic, Inc. ( www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Minneapolis, is the global leader in medical technology ? alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world.



Cort:33swm."Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
chdQB = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/quilt.html
"I can?t take anymore" ... 3rd Eye Blind ... 'How's It Going To Be'
 
Hey, that's pretty interesting, Cort!

I've got a Medtronic annuloplasty ring on the ol' mitral...and when I was talking to my pediatric cardio last week, he said, "Well, if you ever do need a valve replacement someday, you'll probably end up not needing open-heart or minimally invasive; the surgeon will just string a catheter up your artery and replace your valve that way."

Yay for new technological advancements...my dad jokes that eventually VRs will be done over the phone! :p
 
debster913 said:
Yay for new technological advancements...my dad jokes that eventually VRs will be done over the phone! :p

LOL! Ya know ... he may not be that far off base ;).
 
I'm going to e-mail this to my nephew-in-law, who tracks medical developments for an investments company. Medtronic is one of the companies he's visited.
Am sure he's on top of this, but would like to get his comments.
 
*nods*

You're welcome, Stretch!


And, Marsha, let us know what he says ;). Will you still be able to meet for dinner on Thursday? Arg...that is more a rhetorical question as this will probably be the last time I check boards before I leave....
 
*nods*

You are welcome, Sylvia!

Marsha ... the schedule has changed ... and believe you found my celly ;).
 

Latest posts

Back
Top