WASHINGTON — Medtronic (Minneapolis) may have, at least temporarily, moved ahead of rival Edwards Lifesciences (Irvine, California) in the transcatheter aortic valve wars with the announcement that the data are back for the pivotal trial for the CoreValve in high-risk patients. The company announced at this year's annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology (ACC; Washington) that the CoreValve not only yielded better returns on all-cause mortality at a year compared to surgical aortic valve replacement, but also that the device bested surgical valves for stroke at one year, giving the device an edge on the Edwards Sapien in the U.S. market.