Abbott announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company's Portico with FlexNav transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system to treat people with symptomatic, severe aortic stenosis who are at high or extreme risk for open-heart surgery. With this latest TAVR (also referred to as TAVI, or transcatheter aortic valve implantation) advancement, Abbott continues to offer the portfolio of structural heart solutions that include innovative, minimally invasive therapies to repair or replace diseased or damaged heart valves or close openings in the heart. Aortic stenosis is one of the most common and life-threatening heart valve diseases. It occurs when the aortic valve's opening narrows and restricts blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta.1 Patients with the disease can experience breathlessness, chest pressure or tightness, fainting, palpitations, fatigue, and heart murmurs. The condition can ultimately lead to heart failure.2 While many people don't have noticeable symptoms, more than one in eight aged 75 and older has moderate or severe aortic stenosis, which reduces the heart's pumping ability.3 Prior to TAVR, the standard of care for severe aortic stenosis was surgical aortic valve replacement, but not all patients were candidates for open-heart surgery. With years of experience globally, Portico is a self-expanding TAVR valve with intra-annular (within the native valve) leaflets that help provide optimal blood flow (hemodynamics) 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. The Portico device is implanted using Abbott's FlexNav delivery system, which features a slim design to accommodate different patient anatomies and small vessels, and optimizes flexibility, ease of tracking and precision of valve placement.