ATS Medical Appoints New Vice President and General Manager for EMEA

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ATS Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSI), manufacturer and marketer of state-of-the-art cardiac surgery products and services today announced the appointment of Xavier Bertrand to the position of Vice President and General Manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) effective March 1, 2010. Mr. Bertrand joins ATS Medical with over 15 years experience in the medical industry, primarily in the field of Interventional Cardiology. He has held several finance, operations, sales and marketing positions with Boston Scientific in Europe and more recently as Vice President of Sales for Europe and Latin America and then Vice President of Global Marketing at Biosensors International. His geographic responsibilities have included Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

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Mr. Bertrand will be responsible for all the strategic, operational, sales and marketing activities in EMEA, the region expected to contribute the most to ATS Medical's global revenues in the future based on expected new product approvals in the coming years. Mr. Bertrand noted, "I am excited to be contributing to the success of such a fast growing organization.  I truly believe that ATS has the opportunity to shape the cardiac surgery market in the coming years with its focus on cardiac surgeons and minimally invasive surgery. Its innovative portfolio and pipeline will support our growth and greatly benefit cardiac surgeons and their patients."

Michael Dale, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer stated, "Xavier's background and comprehensive professional experiences will bring strong leadership to one of our most important structural heart disease markets. As we look to the future, we expect EMEA to be the first to bring our newest technologies to clinical evaluation and ultimately market commercialization. Xavier is well prepared to add the strategic perspective to our senior management team required of market leaders. We are pleased to have him on board as we prepare for the opportunities in front of us, including very importantly our expected launch of our revolutionary ATS 3f Enable® sutureless aortic valve in the second half of 2010.''

About ATS Medical

ATS Medical, Inc. is dedicated to 'Advancing The Standards' of cardiac surgery through the development, manufacturing and marketing of innovative products and services for the treatment of structural heart disease. ATS Medical serves the cardiac surgery community by focusing on two distinct but operationally synergistic market segments: heart valve disease therapy and surgical ablation of cardiac arrhythmias.

ATS was originally founded to develop the ATS Open Pivot® Heart Valve as a new mechanical heart valve standard of care. Today the ATS Open Pivot Heart Valve is the preferred mechanical heart valve in many markets around the world and the fastest growing mechanical prosthesis in the market. Building on this legacy and addressing the largest market segment in heart valve therapy, the ATS 3f® brand encompasses an innovative tissue heart valve portfolio to address conventional open surgery requirements as well as the growing demand for less invasive sutureless based procedures. The ATS 3f® portfolio includes offerings at various stages including early product development, pivotal clinical trials, and market commercialization. Completing the portfolio in heart valve therapy is the ATS Simulus® annuloplasty product line. Simulus products assist the surgeon in repairing a patient's native heart valve as an alternative to replacement. Continuing ATS Medical's focus on serving the cardiac surgery community are the ATS CryoMaze® products for surgical cryoablation of cardiac arrhythmias. ATS CryoMaze® products are used by surgeons to treat patients suffering from cardiac arrhythmias, the largest and fastest growing form of structural heart disease in populations over 60 years of age. The ATS Medical web site is http://www.atsmedical.com.

Cautionary Statements

This Press Release contains forward-looking statements that may include statements regarding intent, belief or current expectations of the Company and its management. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of important factors, including the results of clinical trials, the timing of regulatory approvals, the impact of pending healthcare reforms, regulatory actions, competition, pricing pressures, supplier actions and management of growth. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could affect the Company's activities and results, please refer to the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and its most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q.

SOURCE ATS Medical, Inc.