Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US have treated two Maryland patients with a new CoreValve device as part of a nationwide study.
The CoreValve device is designed to replace blocked aortic valves in patients with severe aortic disease.
CoreValve, made of a compressed metal scaffold with three flexible tissue leaflets attached, is placed inside the patient’s damaged valve through a catheter that is threaded to the aorta through an artery in the leg.
The two-year study of CoreValve is expected to enrol about 1,200 participants nationwide.
Johns Hopkins professor of surgery John Conte said if the CoreValve Pivotal trial is successful and the device is approved, it could add to the number of treatment options for patients.
When tested in Europe, the device demonstrated more than doubling of blood flow, in some cases showing ejection fractions, and a measure of blood pumped rising from 20% to 50-60 %.
