The Sorin Group, a medical technologies company for cardiac surgery, has completed the first commercial U.S. implant of its Mitroflow aortic pericardial heart valve, performed by the Cardiovascular Surgery Division at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The Milano, Italy-based Sorin said its Mitroflow valve, introduced in Europe in 1982, has the pericardium mounted on the outside of the stent, allowing for valve opening and blood flow.

The Mitroflow valve received FDA approval in October and is now available to cardiac surgeons and their patients in the United States.