Patients at Kansas University Hospital are enrolling in a clinical trial that will test a new treatment for a kind of heart disease.

The study is testing the Medtronic CoreValve System, a procedure that uses a catheter to guide a prosthetic device to a patient’s diseased aortic valve. The device then expands and replaces the valve.

“This is a technology that’s allowing us to help people who previously didn’t have any other option,” said Susie Page, a registered nurse and research coordinator for the clinical trial.

The treatment will be used for patients with severe aortic stenosis, Page said. That disease affects the aortic valve of the heart, and prevents it from properly opening and closing. It can cause shortness of breath, a decreased activity tolerance and can lead to congestive heart failure, Page said.

About 300,000 people worldwide have the disease, including about 100,000 in the United States. The treatment does not require open-heart surgery, which many patients with aortic stenosis are unable to withstand.

The minimally invasive treatment is in use in Europe, and is now approved in more than 35 countries.

KU Hospital is one of 40 clinical sites for the trial across the country. Page said evaluators hope to enroll 1,300 patients in the study nationwide.

Hospital spokesman Bob Hallinan said similar trials where the hospital partners with an outside company are common.

Page said KU Hospital was chosen because of its dedication to higher-risk patients and because of its facilities and modern technology.