ABSTRACT
Mardil Medical’s (Orono, MN) Basal Annuloplasty of the Cardia Externally (BACE™) device was developed to treat a common heart defect called mitral valve regurgitation, a condition related to many types of coronary heart disease. Mitral regurgitation is a condition in which the weakened mitral valve leaks blood backward into the heart, often leading to congestive heart failure with severe, debilitating symptoms. Current treatments for mitral regurgitation, however, carry a range of serious complications and risks. The BACE is an implanted device that is not invasive to the heart, but it ts around the heart as a custom-tted sling, providing the extra support the mitral valve needs to close properly and to keep blood from regurgitating back into the heart. The BACE solution is safer than mitral valve repair, or the more extreme solution of heart transplant, because the device is implanted around the heart and has no contact with blood ow like the more invasive surgeries that add to the risks of thrombosis, stroke, and infection.
