SentreHEART

SentreHEART, established in 2005 by Russell Seiber, is a medical device company that operated from Redwood City, California. The firm concentrated on developing percutaneous solutions for managing the left atrial appendage (LAA), a primary source of blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation. SentreHEART's journey culminated in its acquisition by AtriCure, Inc. in August 2019, a transaction valued at up to $300 million, which included a $40 million upfront payment with the remainder contingent on clinical and reimbursement milestones.

The company's core product is the LARIAT® Suture Delivery Device, a system designed for the remote delivery of a pre-tied suture to close the LAA. This procedure offers a non-implant solution for LAA exclusion, a key differentiator from other market alternatives. The LARIAT system enables clinicians, guided by fluoroscopic and echocardiographic imaging, to encircle the base of the LAA with a suture from outside the heart, leaving no foreign material inside. This process leads to the mechanical and potential electrical isolation of the appendage, which over time is expected to atrophy and disappear, thereby mitigating the risk of stroke associated with atrial fibrillation.

SentreHEART's business strategy centered on the development and commercialization of the LARIAT device for its target clients, primarily electrophysiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons. A significant part of its operations involved rigorous clinical validation, most notably through the aMAZE Trial, an FDA-approved, prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled study. This trial was designed to demonstrate that using the LARIAT device as an adjunct to pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) catheter ablation could reduce the incidence of recurrent atrial fibrillation in patients with persistent and long-standing forms of the condition. The company raised a total of $69 million over several funding rounds to support these development and clinical efforts.

Keywords: SentreHEART, LARIAT Suture Delivery Device, left atrial appendage closure, atrial fibrillation treatment, percutaneous LAA management, Russell Seiber, AtriCure acquisition, aMAZE trial, medical device, electrophysiology, cardiac rhythm management, suture delivery system, non-implant LAA closure, stroke prevention, cardiac surgery, cardiovascular devices, remote suture delivery, soft tissue ligation, PVI ablation adjunct, medical technology innovation