Encore Medical ^{Filed Terms, NYSE American: EMI}

We develop, manufacture, and market septal occlusion products, which are small, implantable devices delivered through a catheter inserted into a major blood vessel to permanently repair certain cardiac defects. Our devices include patented technology that has been in use extensively outside of the U.S. Procedures are performed in a cardiac catheterization lab and reduce the need for open heart surgery or a lifetime of drug therapy, which are currently the primary alternative methods for treating these defects. We have developed devices capable of providing effective, nonsurgical methods of correcting a variety of cardiac defects in both adults and children. Our primary closure device is designed to repair a cardiac defect known as a patent foramen ovale (“PFO”). PFO is an abnormal passage or flap-like hole between the atrial chambers of the heart that can enable embolic material (clots) to travel from the right to left chambers and potentially cause a stroke. PFO is generally detected during adulthood. An estimated 25% of the population has a PFO, yet most people have no adverse effects and are unaware that they have a PFO. However, 50% of patients who suffer a cryptogenic (from an unknown cause) stroke also have a PFO.