Many Americans with leaky heart valves soon might be able to get them fixed without open-heart surgery. A study showed that a tiny clip implanted through an artery was safer and nearly as effective as surgery.
The device is already on sale in Europe, and Abbott Laboratories hopes to win approval to sell it in the United States next year. Actress Elizabeth Taylor reportedly got one last fall. She told fans about it on Twitter, the Associated Press reported.
About 8 million people in the U.S. and Europe have leaky mitral valves. That's the valve between the heart's left upper and lower chambers. Not all are so bad they need treatment, but the worst cases can lead to heart failure over time. Doctors called the study a watershed -- the first big test of repairing or replacing heart valves through arteries rather than drastic surgery.
The study results were presented Sunday at an American College of Cardiology conference.
