MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATS Medical, Inc. -- today announced further confirmation of the excellent clinical results with the ATS Open Pivot(R) Heart Valve in a study entitled "A Single Institution Outcome Analysis of St. Jude Medical and ATS Open Pivot Bileaflet Heart Valve Prosthesis." The study compares the mid-term outcomes of 1,161 patients receiving either the ATS Open Pivot Heart Valve or the St. Jude Medical mechanical heart valve. The results will be presented at the 16th World Congress of the World Society of Cardio-Thoracic Surgeons (WSCTS) August 17-20 in Ottawa, Canada.
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The study authored by Doan Baykut, MD of the Division of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland reports, "Our eleven- year experience showed that both bileaflet valves presented good clinical results with low incidence of adverse events. In the aortic position, significant survival benefit in long-term course was observed with ATS (Open Pivot) valves." The study abstract was selected as a top ten finalist in the WSCTS Clinical Studies category for exceptional research, based on peer review of over 700 abstracts.
The ATS Open Pivot Heart Valve performance is also featured in a poster presentation by Nishi Katsuo, MD of Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan entitled "Influence of Prosthetic Heart Valve Sound on Patients' Quality of Life." This multi-center study of over 500 patients receiving an ATS Open Pivot, St. Jude Medical or CarboMedics mechanical heart valve compares the valve sound impact of the three and confirms previous research concluding, "The ATS (Open Pivot) mechanical valve had better influences on patients' QOL (quality of life) after heart valve replacement because of its quietness based on a characteristic frequency."
"We acknowledge and congratulate these authors and are extremely pleased that the exceptional clinical performance of the ATS Open Pivot Heart Valve is again confirmed," says ATS Medical President, CEO and Chairman of the Board Michael D. Dale.
ATS Medical is proud to sponsor the WSCTS 16th World Congress Satellite Symposium entitled "Current Considerations and Techniques for the Surgical Treatment of Valvular Heart Disease" on August 17 which is being chaired by Mark Slaughter, MD., Director of Cardiac Surgery Research at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Chicago, IL.
The WSCTS World Congress is held annually to further advance knowledge in cardiac and thoracic surgery, to enable surgeons and related health care professionals worldwide to present the most advanced scientific information and to promote exchange of recent achievements in research and clinical experience.
About ATS Medical
ATS Medical, Inc. manufactures and markets products and services focused on cardiac surgery. The company, global in scope, has been headquartered in Minneapolis since its founding in 1991. More than 100,000 ATS Open Pivot(R) Heart Valves, which utilize a unique pivot design resulting in exceptional performance and low risk profile, have been implanted in patients worldwide. ATS Medical's focus on serving the cardiac surgery community is further strengthened by offerings that include ATS Simulus(TM) annuloplasty products for heart valve repair, Surgi-Frost(R) and Frost-Byte(TM) products for surgical cryoablation of cardiac arrhythmias, RTI-Cardiovascular for allograft tissue services, QAS home monitoring services for anticoagulation therapy and the development of PARSUS blood filtration technology. The ATS Medical web site is http://www.atsmedical.com/ .
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This Press Release contains forward-looking statements that may include statements regarding intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements as a result of a number of important factors, including regulatory actions, competition, pricing pressures, supplier actions and management of growth. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could affect the Company's activities and results, please refer to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, as amended.
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