DUBLIN and ORLANDO - March 10, 2018 - Medtronic plc (NYSE: MDT) today unveiled outcomes from the CoreValve U.S. Pivotal Extreme Risk Study and the real-world NOTION trial (Nordic Aortic Valve Intervention Trial), both of which examined patients with the CoreValve(TM) transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system at five years post-implant. Presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 67th Annual Scientific Session, results from the studies demonstrated that patients implanted with the CoreValve TAVR system showed strong hemodynamic performance (blood flow) and improved quality of life out to five years.

The physician-initiated NOTION trial studied an all-comers population of 280 patients at least 70 years old who were randomized to surgical (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve replacement using the CoreValve System. Results at five-year follow-up showed similar rates of all-cause mortality (27.7 percent for TAVR versus 27.7 percent for SAVR) and superior hemodynamic performance for TAVR (mean aortic valve gradient of 8.22 mm Hg) compared to surgery (13.71 mm Hg).

"These five-year outcomes of the NOTION data add to the mounting body of longer-term evidence supporting the effectiveness of TAVR, said H. Gustav Thyregod, M.D., Ph.D., cardiac surgeon in the department of cardiac surgery at The Heart Center, Rigshospitalet, in Copenhagen, Denmark, and presenter of the NOTION data at the meeting. "We're pleased to see the strong hemodynamic performance maintained over time without any indication of valve deterioration."
Also presented at the meeting were the final five-year results from the CoreValve U.S. Pivotal Extreme Risk Study, which enrolled the first US IDE cohort of patients ever to be treated with the self-expanding CoreValve TAVR system. Results from the study continued to show positive outcomes at five years for the surviving patients - all of whom were deemed to be facing considerable harm or mortality with a surgical valve replacement. Patients implanted with the CoreValve system maintained a notable improvement in quality of life (mean change from baseline in KCCQ of > 20 points at 5 years) and sustained low mean gradients (7.63 mm Hg).

"It is remarkable to see patients, whose only aortic valve replacement option was to undergo a TAVR procedure, continue to live an improved quality of life five years later," said Pieter Kappetein, M.D., vice president and chief medical officer of the Heart Valve Therapies business, which is part of the Cardiac and Vascular Group at Medtronic. "While the TAVR therapy continues to show promise in less sick patients, it's important to acknowledge that the early pioneers of this therapy were those who truly had very limited treatment options. It's satisfying to see that many of these early patients continue to do well with the self-expanding TAVR platform, especially as the therapy expands to lower-risk patients who are expected to live longer."

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