As per the Fuwai Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, China's National Medical Products Administration has approved the marketing of a self-developed 100% bioabsorbable occluder for ventricular septal defects.

Ventricular septal abnormalities are a common type of congenital heart disease that can lead to pulmonary arterial hypertension and even death. Chinese doctors created a new occluder out of biodegradable materials. According to Fuwai Hospital, which is also the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, it is progressively replaced by the body's own tissue and degrades over time, providing as a temporary "bridge" for the heart to mend itself.

Pan Xiangbin, director of Fuwai Hospital's structural heart disease centre said that interventional closure is a common method used to treat ventricular septal defects because it has the advantages of less trauma and a faster recovery period, whereas traditional metal occluders are designed to stay permanently in the body, which is likely to lead to long-term complications.

According to Hu Shengshou, the hospital's head, the ultrasound-guided intervention technology developed at Fuwai Hospital can replace radiation-guided technology because it can detect non-metal fully bioabsorbable materials implanted into the human body, removing a key barrier in the development of such occluders.

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