FDA Approves Medtronic's Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve and Ensemble Delivery System

摘要

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Medtronic Inc's Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve and Ensemble Delivery System, January 25,2010-the first heart valve to be implanted through a catheter, or tube, in a leg vein and guided up to the heart. This new approach to the treatment of adults and children with previously implanted, poorly functioning pulmonary valve conduits can delay the need for open-heart surgery. The company is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Conduits are surgically implanted valves used to treat congenital heart defects of the pulmonary valve. Patients with congenital heart defects have narrowed, leaky, or missing pulmonary valves that impede the proper flow of blood from the heart's right ventricle to the pulmonary artery, which then sends the blood on to the lungs for oxygenation.