Patent ID: 8123801

Claim:
A system for reconfiguring an atrioventricular heart valve, which system comprises a partial or complete fenestrated annuloplasty ring having a size and shape proportioned to reconfigure a heart valve of a patient that has become in some way incompetent, and a plurality of spaced-apart windows along the length of the ring, and a plurality of staples having pairs of legs that are each sized to occupy only a minor portion of the area of one window when passed therethrough to be implanted in the heart valve tissue at spaced locations along the length of the ring and thus secure the ring to the heart valve tissue bordering the valve annulus in a manner that permits relative movement between said staples and said ring, whereby a patient's heart valve can be reconfigured in a manner that does not deter subtle shifting of the native valve as so to conform the annulus to said ring so the shape of the valve annulus will steadily improve to an optimum configuration where its natural leaflets achieve better coaptation.