Sorin Group Wins European Approval of Solo Smart Valve

The Sorin Group recently announced CE Mark approval of its Solo Smart stentless aortic valve, which Milan, Italy-based Sorin is touting as an improvement on its Freedom Solo valve that has been used in Europe since 2004.

So how did Sorin improve its stentless aortic valve? It added a stent--but the stent is removable after the valve has been sutured to the aortic root.

The removable stent is meant to make the Solo Smart an easier valve to implant than the Freedom Solo.

Having a stent in place while the valve is implanted maintains valve geometry and symmetry within the aortic root, improves visibility during valve positioning and suturing, and requires less time for suturing, according to Sorin.

Alberto Repossini, MD, at Spedali Civili Brescia, Italy, made the first successful European implantation of the Solo Smart late last month.  

"The Solo Smart valve combines superior hemodynamic performance and ease of implant making it a very attractive solution for aortic valve replacement, especially in patients with superior hemodynamic requirements," Repossini says.

"The Solo Smart valve mimics the native aortic valve and preserves the aortic root physiology. It ensures an excellent hemodynamic performance in terms of larger effective orifice area as well as mean and peak gradients that remain stable over the follow-up period, leading to a remarkable clinical improvement," Repossini said in a news release.

Other stentless valve technologies include Medtronic's Freestyle valve and Edwards' Prima Plus valve.