The Abbott valve repair device, which essentially clips the mitralvalve shut, was tested in a study that company-funded researchers said showed it was roughly equivalent to surgery.
The panel met to evaluate use of the novel device in patients with significant symptomatic mitral regurgitation (MR) who have been determined by a cardiac surgeon to be too high risk for open mitralvalve surgery and in whom existing co-morbidities would not preclude the expected benefit from correction of the MR.