The use of leads for cardiac electrophysiology devices has proven nothing short of controversial in the past, usually an artifact of efforts to craft ever-skinnier leads that won’t disrupt the blood vessels into which they are placed. Dublin-based Medtronic plc is working to avoid these problems with leads without sacrificing the advantages of leads via its EV ICD system, which soundly passed the test in a study presented at this year’s edition of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) annual scientific sessions.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final version of a proposed rewrite of the national coverage determination (NCD) for mitral valve repair devices that includes a coverage with evidence development (CED) mandate. The final also retains the draft’s provisions for secondary mitral valve regurgitation, which analysts say will double or even triple the market for devices thus approved by the FDA.

Ongoing litigation between rivals Edwards Lifesciences Corp. and Abbott Laboratories is over, with the two settling all outstanding patent disputes in cases related to transcatheter mitral and tricuspid repair products. Details of the settlement remain confidential.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the much-anticipated draft do-over of the mitral valve repair device coverage memo, and in the process renamed the policy the mitral valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) national coverage memo.

Minimally invasive structural heart implants are moving from mitral into tricuspid valve repair, as well as mitral valve replacement. Abbott Laboratories is presenting its latest data on all these fronts at the virtual PCR e-Course held by the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions from June 25 to 27.

Edwards Lifesciences Corp. has gained a CE mark for its Pascal transcatheter valve repair system to treat tricuspid regurgitation (TR). It was previously approved for mitral regurgitation treatment. Due to the pandemic, Edwards has paused new enrollments in its ongoing mitral and tricuspid pivotal clinical trials.

Physicians who perform a variety of device implant procedures face a difficult choice in determining whether a patient should be treated. A new article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) recommends that patients who ordinarily would be candidates for surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) might instead be referred for the transcatheter alternative.

Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories has gained the U.S. FDA’s nod for a clinical trial that will compare the effectiveness of Mitraclip to open-heart mitral valve surgical repair in people with primary mitral regurgitation (MR) who are eligible for open-heart surgery. The prospective, randomized REPAIR MR clinical trial is expected to enroll 500 patients.

While the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revisits its coverage policy for transcatheter mitral valve repair devices, several physician societies have drafted recommendations for operator and institutional volume requirements that could restrict the number of centers authorized to practice devices such as Abbott Park, Ill.-based Abbott Laboratories’ Mitraclip.