At the American College of Cardiology meeting next year, Dr. Reardon hopes to present results from the SurTAVI trial, in which intermediate-risk patients have been randomly assigned to SAVR or TAVR using the CoreValve system.

Dr. Allan Stewart, director of Aortic Surgery and co-director of the Valve Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told Reuters Health by email that the clinical implication of the study “is massive.”

He explained, “This study adds support to other multi-center trials, proving that intermediate-risk patients with aortic stenosis do better with TAVR than with traditional open-heart surgery. This study comes at an appropriate time point, as the FDA just approved the Edwards SAPIEN device for intermediate-risk patients. I suspect that approval for the Medtronic device will soon follow.”

Medtronic funded The CoreValve US Pivotal High Risk Trial. Dr. Reardon and 11 coauthors receive fees or grant support from Medtronic.