Heart, diabetes devices pump up Medtronic's quarterly profit

May 24 (Reuters) - Medtronic Plc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday on higher demand for its heart valves and diabetes devices such as insulin pumps.

Sales in the cardiac and vascular unit, which sells defibrillators, pace-makers, heart valves and stents, jumped 10.1 percent to $3.14 billion in the fourth quarter, accounting for 38.5 percent of the company's total sales.

Rival Edwards Lifesciences Corp last month said its premium-priced transcatheter heart valves had lost market share in Europe to Medtronic.

Medtronic's coronary & structural heart unit, which houses the transcatheter valves, saw sales of $1.01 billion, an 18.7 percent increase.

Sales in the company's diabetes unit rose 26 percent to $645 million, helped by strong demand for its new sensor-augmented insulin pump systems.

Net income attributable to the company jumped 25.5 percent to $1.46 billion, or $1.07 per share, in the quarter ended April 27.

Excluding items, the company earned $1.42 per share, beating the average analyst estimate of $1.39.

Revenue rose 2.9 percent to $8.14 billion.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Maju Samuel)