A Medical Device Daily

Medtronic (Minneapolis) reported the worldwide introduction of the CG Future Composite Annuloplasty Ring, used by heart surgeons to repair – rather than replace – a mitral valve that is narrowed or leaking.

The CG Future Composite Ring is the industry's first annuloplasty product providing both semi-rigid posterior remodeling and fully flexible anterior support, thereby allowing physiologic movement throughout the cardiac cycle.

When functioning normally, the mitral valve controls blood flow from the lungs, closing tightly under the pressure of freshly oxygenated blood when the heart contracts, then opening when the heart relaxes. Blood then flows into the left ventricle, the heart's main pumping chamber, where it is pumped throughout the body's circulatory system with the next heartbeat.

Mitral valve insufficiency sometimes congenital, but may also be caused by tissue overgrowth, infection or damage from heart attacks.

During mitral valve repair, the surgeon seeks to restore, or “remodel,” a narrowed, prolapsed or leaking valve to a more-normal shape and leaflet alignment, restoring its functionality.

The CG Future Composite ring incorporates a flexible anterior segment seamlessly connected to a semi-rigid posterior metal portion. The design is engineered to support and hold the rear of the valve in alignment while allowing optimum physiological movement for the front of the valve throughout the cardiac cycle.

Co-developers and initial implanters are Stephen Colvin, MD, and Aubrey Galloway, MD, of NYU Medical Center (New York). They also developed the original CG Future Annuloplasty Band, which was added to Medtronic's valve repair product line in 2001.