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Unmet Clinical Need
There are an estimated 3
million patients in the U.S. who suffer from mitral
regurgitation with an additional 250,000+ new patients diagnosed annually.
In Western Europe the number is comparable and other
medically advanced countries around the world add to this
addressable patient population.
As the only treatment currently
available requires open heart surgery, valve repair is not
considered until valve disease has progressed and
the patient has become significantly symptomatic. Unfortunately by
that time co-morbidities including congestive heart failure
(CHF),
atrial fibrillation (AF), and advanced cardiovascular disease, renders
many patients at "high risk" and ineligible for surgery.
Surgical Annuloplasty
In 2009 approximately 39,000
patients in the U.S. and 34,000 patients in Western Europe had a
surgical annuloplasty procedure. Minimally invasive transcatheter procedures are usually
associated with much lower mortality and morbidities.
QuantumCor's transcatheter approach will provide a therapeutic
option for patients ineligible for surgery and as physicians
become more comfortable we believe they may begin offering it to
patients earlier in their disease process, before co-morbidities
cause un-reversible cardiac damage.
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