The first human implantation of the VenusA Plus retrievable valve system was completed successfully at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (SAHZU) on 23 November. Wang Jian’an (president of SAHZU) announced that China has completed its first successful human implantation of a retrievable transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) device.
According to a press release, the implantation marks another milestone for Venus Medtech, becoming China’s first company capable of providing a retrievable interventional cardiac valve system.
The 76-year-old female patient who received the valve had been diagnosed with severe aortic valve stenosis and had been defined as being a high-risk surgical patient. The heart team discussed and defined her anatomical features as a bicuspid aortic valve and asymmetric calcification, which raised the risk of dislocation during the valve implantation. They were of the opinion that the retrievable system would be the best fit for the patient.
The press release reports that the retrievable system is designed to allow the valve to be withdrawn and repositioned after release, with the aim of avoiding adverse events as a result of a poor implant position and mismatch of the implanted valve—including valve translocation, severe paravalvular leakage, a negative impact on the bicuspid aortic valve and high degree atrioventricular block caused by conduction bundle compression. The system also reduces the complexity of the procedure, which, in turn, helps to promote the adoption and application of TAVI technology.
Wang comments: “SAHZU’s medical team has been closely working with Zhejiang Province’s Cardiac Valve Research Institute and Venus Medtech’s R&D team to study, develop and produce the heart valve products. The collaboration began with the VenusA-Valve and has led to the success for VenusA Plus. The product is a next-generation TAVI valve that delivers good performance in terms of release, retrievable stability, controllability and passing ability, thus offering great potential when it comes to clinical applications.”
The successful human implantation of VenusA Plus took place just four months after the launch of China’s first TAVI valve VenusA-Valve. “Venus Medtech has continuously achieved technological breakthroughs. We plan to roll out more innovative products going forward, demonstrating the company’s strong competence in innovation and its ongoing commitment to serving patients,” explains Venus Medtech CEO Zi Zhenjun.
