First Human Ultrasound Procedure Successfully Reduces MR

September 23, 2010 - The first-in-human procedure to use ultrasound therapy to treat mitral regurgitation (MR) has been successfully completed. The data from the study, which used ReCor Medical’s ultrasound therapy, will be presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2010 meeting in Washington, D.C.

The procedure was performed by Karl-Heinz Kuck, M.D., Hamburg, Germany on a 79-year-old male with severe MR (3+). The procedure took less than 90 minutes reduced MR to 1+.

“The device was extremely easy to use and the fact that you do not implant anything makes this a breakthrough in mitral valve repair,” Kuck said.

“Our ultrasound therapy is a whole new modality for treating MR,” said Mano Iyer, founder and CEO of ReCor Medical. “Ultrasound creates heat. Heat shrinks collagen. Shrinkage reduces the mitral valve annulus, and annular reduction reduces MR.”

“As a cardiac surgeon, I believe this is an historic moment, as this represents the first time ever that a patient has been treated without leaving anything behind,” said professor Jacques Séguin, M.D., Ph.D., founder and former chairman/CEO of CoreValve and chairman of ReCor. “We also see an application for tricuspid regurgitation, which means we can truly revolutionize the treatment of cardiac valve insufficiency.”

For more information: www.transurgical.com