December 10, 2009 – An exclusive license agreement between On-X Life Technologies and the Cleveland Clinic will create a system of products intended to improve and simplify the replacement of damaged or severed mitral valve chordae. The system is the creation of co-inventors A. Marc Gillinov, M.D., a staff cardiac surgeon at Cleveland Clinic, and Michael K. Banbury, M.D., of Christiana Care’s Center for Heart and Vascular Health, and will be codeveloped with the On-X LTI New Product Development team.
Surgical repair of the mitral valve includes the insertion of a cloth-covered ring around the valve to bring the leaflets into contact with each other (annuloplasty), removal of redundant/loose segments of the leaflets, and resuspension of the leaflets with artificial cords (chordal replacement). Replacement of diseased mitral valve chordae with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) sutures is an established technique with good long-term results. Various techniques have been described to assist the surgeon to establish the correct replacement chordal length.
“For the past three decades, there has been great focus on the roles of leaflet resection and annuloplasty for mitral valve repair in patients with mitral valve prolapse. More recently, surgeons have recognized the value of using artificial chordae to correct prolapse,” said Dr. Gillinov. “With current techniques, chordal replacement is technically challenging. The hope is to assist cardiac surgeons by providing a simple method for chordal replacement.”
“The surgical approach to mitral valve repair appears to be a method by which a long-term satisfactory outcome can be achieved,” said Dr. Banbury. “It is our expectation that the surgical tools we will develop with On-X LTI will further enable the surgical approach and enhance the consistency of surgical outcomes, providing patients with the best opportunity for a solution to their mitral incompetence.”
Approximately 50,000 mitral valve repair procedures are performed annually in the United States. Mitral valve repair is one of the fastest growing procedures in cardiac surgery due to the excellent long-term outcome. In a minority of cases the mitral valve may not be surgically repaired and must be replaced with a prosthetic valve.
For more information: www.onxlti.com
April 23, 2024 
