The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Transmural Systems’ Telltale, a dedicated electrosurgical guide wire to reduce the risk of coronary obstruction in high-risk patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

US-based Transmural developed the Telltale guide wire, which is available for TAVR procedures treating both native aortic stenosis and bioprosthetic valve failure, as a dedicated system for ‘leaflet’ modification. The leaflet is a flap of tissue that, in rare TAVR cases, can shift position, blocking blood flow to the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart. Research indicates that the complication has a mortality rate of 35%.