Annuloplasty Ring Advances Mitral Valve Repair

An implanted circumferential mitral valve ring reshapes and resizes annular geometry, facilitating leaflet edge-to-edge repair.

The Valcare Medical (Herzliya, Israel) AMEND annuloplasty device is based on a D-shaped ring designed to reduce valvular incompetence, using a proprietary remote mechanism that controls the shape of the ring by modifying its geometry, using a series of four independently deployed anchors in different zones that attach the ring to the mitral valve annulus. The device is delivered using a proprietary catheter through the chest and into the heart under ¬fluoroscopic and echo guidance via sub-xiphoid transapical or transseptal delivery.

The implant emerges from the catheter in a linear form and transforms into the closed D-shape ring in the heart’s left atrium. Once deployed, the ring is re-positioned to match the annulus of the original mitral valve, and the septal lateral (anterior-posterior) dimension is further reduced for better lea¬flet coaptation to eliminate mitral regurgitation. Endothelization and ingrowth both around and within the implant aid structural integrity and long-term performance. The AMEND device is currently limited to investigational use, and is not commercially available.

“AMEND's distinctive design provides a transcatheter surgical-like solution and creates a platform for multiple treatment options for patients, as a stand-alone solution or in combination with edge-to-edge or chordal reconstruction therapies,” said Shuki Porath, CEO of Valcare Medical. “The AMEND platform also serves as infrastructure for Valcare’s mitral replacement system and tricuspid repair solution.”

Mitral valve regurgitation, the most common form of valvular heart disease, is a disorder of the heart in which the valve does not close properly, causing regurgitation of blood from the left ventricle through the mitral valve and into the left atrium when the left ventricle contracts, causing blood to return back into the left atrium.

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