MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Medtech titan Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) announced that it had treated its 1st U.S. patient in a global clinical trial evaluating its CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve implantation systems in a lower-risk group of patients.
Medtronic is comparing it CoreValve TAVI system to surgical valve replacement in patients with severe aortic stenosis who are at intermediate risk for open-heart surgery, which is the standard treatment for those patients today.
Medtronic’s SURTAVI trial is expected to be "the largest global, randomized, controlled trial on transcatheter aortic valve implantation to date and will include approximately 2,500 patients," according to a press release.
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