US 12,458,498 B2
Implanting grafts to valve leaflets for cardiac procedures
Stephen Cournane, Severn, MD (US); Felino V. Cortez, Jr., Bowie, MD (US); Stephen Epstein, Baltimore, MD (US); Luke Anthony Zanetti, Parkton, MD (US); and Julie Marie Etheridge, Ellicott City, MD (US)
Assigned to EDWARDS LIFESCIENCES CORPORATION, Irvine, CA (US)
Filed by Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, Irvine, CA (US)
Filed on Feb. 7, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/650,225.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/147,918, filed on Feb. 10, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0249232 A1, Aug. 11, 2022
Int. Cl. A61F 2/24 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 2/2463 (2013.01) [A61F 2/2457 (2013.01); A61F 2220/0008 (2013.01); A61F 2220/0075 (2013.01); A61F 2250/0012 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for implanting a graft on a ventricle-facing surface of a leaflet in a heart, the method comprising:
puncturing a wall of a ventricle near an apex of the heart to gain access to the ventricle;
installing an artificial cord having a distal anchor and a suture extending proximally from the distal anchor, the distal anchor deployed on an atrium-facing surface of the leaflet, the suture extending proximally through the leaflet and through the puncture in the wall of the ventricle to a region outside the heart;
implanting an edge cord at an edge of a graft, the edge cord including an edge anchor and an edge suture extending from the edge anchor, the graft configured to extend beyond an edge of the leaflet to effectively elongate the leaflet;
directing the graft along the artificial cord from the region outside the heart to the ventricle-facing surface of the leaflet such that a proximal end of the edge cord extends through the puncture in the wall of the ventricle to the region outside the heart; and
deploying a mechanical fastener to secure the graft to the ventricle-facing surface of the leaflet, the suture of the artificial cord being threaded through the mechanical fastener outside of the heart and then being directed along the artificial cord to secure the graft against the leaflet.