FT. LAUDERDALE, FL, January 30, 2012 -- Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE: EW), the global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, announced today that new data were presented on high-risk surgical patients with severe aortic stenosis treated with transapical transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) during the continued access period of Cohort A of The PARTNER Trial. The data on the Edwards SAPIEN transcatheter heart valve were presented by Todd M. Dewey, M.D., surgical director of structural heart disease and cardiac transplantation at Medical City Dallas Hospital, during the late-breaking clinical trial abstracts at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons' (STS) annual meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
"It is encouraging that, in this much larger group of patients treated with transapical valve replacement, investigators observed a trend toward patients feeling better faster and having improved outcomes. We believe this more recent experience adds strong new support to the transapical procedure as an important option for patients who are at high-risk for surgery," said Michael A. Mussallem, Edwards' chairman and CEO.