Edwards heart valve system tops Medtronic version in small study

The minimally invasive aortic heart valve replacement system from Edwards Lifesciences Corp performed better than a rival product sold by Medtronic Inc in the first head-to-head study of the two, according to data from a small German trial presented at a major heart meeting on Sunday. While the results are unlikely to be seen as decisive, given the size and limited scope of the study, they could provide the Edwards sales force with a valuable marketing tool as the two companies vie for market share with their competing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) systems. Both systems employ a catheter to thread the new valve through an artery into place in the heart, sparing patients too frail for open heart surgery from the invasive chest cracking procedure. The Edwards Sapien XT uses a balloon to expand the compressed valve once it is in position in the diseased valve, while the Medtronic CoreValve has a special self expanding valve using an alloy that reacts to body heat to open.



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