Elizabeth Taylor was many things to many people: a screen legend, a social activist, a fashion icon and so much more. But to Abbott Laboratories, the Chicago-based pharmaceutical company, Taylor was also one of nearly 300 study subjects enrolled in the Endovascular Valve Edge-to-Edge REpair Study (EVEREST II), a clinical trial testing an experimental medical device called MitraClip.

In 2009, Taylor, who died yesterday from congestive heart failure at the age of 79, divulged via Twitter that she had received MitraClip, a repair system for treating leaky heart valves. Ted Feldman, a cardiologist at Northshore University HealthSystem in Evanston, Illinois who is leading the EVEREST II trial, told heartwire that he had not been involved in Taylor’s care and didn’t know the details of her treatment. But, he wrote in an email, “our high-risk registry did show decreased rehospitalizations and improved survival for the year after treatment, which may be the case for her.”

Earlier this week, Feldman and his colleagues reported on the healing response of 67 people who received the MitraClip. They found that tissue bridging between the device arms added structural stability to the valve and that the device maintained its mechanical integrity for up five years after implantation. Feldman is slated to announce two-year results from the EVEREST II trial next month at the American College of Cardiology’s annual Scientific Sessions/i2 Summit.

Below you can watch a video in which Feldman describes the experimental technology: