(Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories' Xience Xpedition heart stent was approved by U.S. health regulators and will be launched in the United States immediately, the company said on Thursday.

Heart stents are tiny tubular devices that prop open diseased blood vessels after angioplasty. Abbott's stent delivers a drug, everolimus, which helps keep the vessel from reclogging.

Abbott competes with Medtronic Inc and Boston Scientific in the market for heart stents.

(Reporting By Debra Sherman; editing by John Wallace)