The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the Portico with FlexNav (Abbott) transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system for patients with "symptomatic, severe aortic stenosis who are at high or extreme risk for open-heart surgery," the company announced recently.

Portico is a self-expanding TAVR valve with leaflets that help provide optimal blood flow when placed inside a patient’s natural valve. The structure of the replacement valve also preserves access to the critical coronary arteries for future coronary interventions, Abbott says.