Miniaturization and 3D modeling help to provide new technologies to meet the needs of pediatric patients with congenital heart defects.

Tendyne Holdings, Inc. ("Tendyne"), a privately held clinical stage medical device company, announced today that the Tendyne Transcatheter Mitral Valve system has been successfully implanted in three patients.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) likely stepped closer to use in intermediate-risk patients after a multicenter study found patients who underwent transfemoral TAVR with a next-generation valve had a 30-day mortality rate of 2.1 percent.

Cardiac surgeons are learning the utility of 3D printed modeling. As shown Nov. 19 at the American Heart Association scientific session in Chicago, it allows physicians to hold and inspect a rendition of a patient’s heart prior to surgery to get a better understanding of internal anatomy with congenital defects.

For patients with Marfan’s syndrome, losartan may not be any better at reducing rates of aortic-root enlargement than beta-blockers. The results challenge prior studies that suggested losartan may have an advantage over beta-blocker therapy.

The American Heart Association’s Council on Clinical Cardiology presented its highest honor, the James B. Herrick Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cardiology, to Kanu Chatterjee, M.B., of the University of Iowa, “in grateful recognition of his distinguished and productive career benefitting physicians and their patients worldwide.”

Critical screening for newborns in New Jersey bears fruit: 13 more babies were identified with critical congenital heart defects than had been previously identified through prenatal screening or physical exam. Secondarily, babies with other kinds of congenital heart defects and serious medical conditions were identified solely through the mandatory pulse oximetry program.

The success of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has inspired physicians to apply less invasive percutaneous techniques to other valvular conditions.