China, US experts advance safer heart-valve repair

Experts from China and the United States are working together on global surgical heart-valve repair, in an effort to deliver better treatment options for patients with heart disease.

Surgical heart-valve repair is an operation that fixes a damaged or malfunctioning valve so that it works more normally, rather than replacing it with an artificial or tissue valve.

"It is a new era, and the field is going to expand, as we have safer ways to repair the valve," said Dr David Adams, cardiac surgeon-in-chief at the Mount Sinai Health System in New York and a leading expert in valve repair.

He made the remarks at the Chinese-Minimally Invasive Cardiovascular Surgery Week 2026 and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery China Valve Symposium, held in Shanghai on Oct 25. "The price of being free from valve regurgitation is a pacemaker — that's absolutely not true. A pacemaker changes patients' quality of life, it brings extra cost and affects long-term survival."

As a parallel-session launch at the symposium, US-based medical technology company Medtronic launched its new-generation device in China — a surgical implant used in heart-valve repair procedures.

International and Chinese specialists noted that the new device offers an additional therapeutic tool for cardiac surgeons in China. They also look forward to generating more local real-world evidence with the platform, to advance domestic valve-repair techniques and benefit Chinese patients living with heart-valve disease.

Data from the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases showed that valve repair made up 34.4 percent of surgical mitral valve operations in China. The proportion has risen gradually in recent years. However, the adoption rate of valve repair — particularly tricuspid valve repair — remains lower than in Western nations, creating notable unmet clinical needs.

"Older-generation devices carry a relatively high rate of post-operative pacemaker implantation, while new-generation products can substantially lower such risks," Adams added. "Following its commercial release in China, the new-generation device adds another option for local patients. A pacemaker can alter patients' quality of life and add financial burdens, and we should strive to help patients avoid this complication."

Wang Chunsheng, chairman of the department of cardiac surgery at Zhongshan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, said the launch brings new treatment alternatives for domestic patients and opens room for further exploration and local-data accumulation among Chinese and international clinicians.

During the symposium, experts appealed for international cooperation in the field, in order to offer safer choices to patients with heart diseases.

"Valvular-heart-disease guidelines launched by the US recommend us to perform valve repair at the time of heart surgery, and this is particularly meaningful in China," said Adams, adding that doctors from China and abroad should keep exchanging insights and make progress together.