System for Positioning Mitral Valve

A patented holder system is designed to hold and position a replacement valve during mitral heart valve surgery, making it easier to implant the valve.

The system employs a unique design that resulted from a year-long collaboration among leading surgeons. A lower profile creates better visualization and operating space for the surgeon by allowing the valve to quickly and easily "parachute” into the precise opening of the patient's native valve. The holder offers one-piece removal and a quick-release handle, providing efficiencies that can help decrease operating time.

Called Tricentrix, the holder system was developed by Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (Irvine, CA, USA) and is used with the company's Carpentier-Edwards Perimount Plus mitral pericardial valve in the United States. Edwards states that this valve is the first and only biomechanically engineered tissue heart valve designed specifically to meet the challenges and high pressure required for the mitral position.

"Our experience with this holder system has demonstrated improved ease of implantation, regardless of a surgeon's preferred technique,” said Dr. Delos M. Cosgrove, chairman of the department of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.




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Edwards Lifesciences Corp.