Transcatheter Valve Delays the Need for Open-Heart Surgery

An innovative transcatheter pulmonary valve (TPV) offers optimal hemodynamics for patients with congenital heart defects (CHDs), reducing the need for multiple open-heart surgeries while they grow.

The Melody TPV provides valve competency for children born with a malformation of the pulmonary valve. The TPV is delivered via a fluoroscopic guidance system and a 22 French delivery catheter that offers a low crossing profile, and a balloon-in-balloon deployment procedure enables minor adjustments to facilitate accurate placement. A unique coverage sheath protects the valve during delivery to the point of deployment, and sutures placed at every node of the TPV enhance valve integrity. Coaptation of the TPV leaflets is available across a range of diameters and geometries, opening and closing under minimal pressure.


Similar to other conduit valves, the Melody TPV may wear out and require replacement over time; however, since it is implanted without the need for open heart surgery, it can support the failing conduit and can keep the blood flowing in the right direction, allowing it to function longer than usual, delaying the need for more invasive open-heart surgery. The Melody TPV is a product of Medtronic (Minneapolis, MN, USA), and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"Conduits do not grow with the patients. Some conduits only last a year or two and others can last more than a decade,” said Aimee Armstrong, M.D., an assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Michigan (U-M, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; www.umich.edu). "This is a huge breakthrough; there's a lot of pain, morbidity, and time off of work and school that is involved with open-heart surgery, and patients want to do everything they possibly can to avoid that."

Conduits are surgically implanted valves used to treat patients with congenital heart defects that 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.

Related Links:
Medtronic
University of Michigan