Contingencies (Details)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended				3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		0 Months Ended				12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended
	Apr. 25, 2014 USD ($)	Apr. 26, 2013 USD ($)	Apr. 27, 2012 USD ($)	Jan. 15, 2014 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2013 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation USD ($)	Apr. 01, 2010 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation USD ($)	Mar. 19, 2010 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation patent	Oct. 26, 2012 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation USD ($)	Apr. 25, 2014 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation USD ($)	Apr. 26, 2013 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation USD ($)	May 23, 2014 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation Subsequent Event USD ($)	May 19, 2014 Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation Subsequent Event USD ($)	Aug. 30, 2012 Existing Litigation, Edwards Life Sciences Inc GERMANY patent	Apr. 25, 2014 INFUSE Product Liability Litigation PersonalInjuryCases Lawsuits claim	Apr. 25, 2014 INFUSE Product Liability Litigation USD ($) Lawsuits claim	May 31, 2012 Shareholder Related Litigation Lawsuits	Apr. 25, 2014 Other Litigation Matters USD ($)	May 31, 2014 Other Litigation Matters Subsequent Event USD ($)	Mar. 12, 2010 Pending Litigation Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation patent	Mar. 19, 2010 Pending Litigation Existing Litigation, Edwards Life Sciences Inc patent	Aug. 26, 2013 Edwards Lifesciences, Inc. Litigation with Edwards Lifesciences Corporation EUR (€)
Loss Contingency, Information about Litigation Matters
Name of defendant									Medtronic CoreValve LLC
Name of plaintiff									Edwards
Patents allegedly infringed, number							3						3						3
Loss Contingency, Bond to Enforce Injunction																					€ 50,000,000
Patents found not infringed, number							2													2
Damages awarded to plaintiff				394,000,000		74,000,000
Settlement consideration												750,000,000						10,000,000
Minimum annual payments												40,000,000
Certain litigation charges, net	770,000,000	245,000,000	90,000,000					245,000,000	589,000,000	245,000,000					140,000,000		10,000,000
Agreement term												8 years
Payments for Legal Settlements	$ 15,000,000	$ 175,000,000	$ 241,000,000		$ 84,000,000						$ 750,000,000
New claims filed, number														750	750
Loss Contingency, Number of Plaintiffs														1,200
Estimated number of unfiled claims														3,600	3,600
Loss Contingency, New Claims Filed, Number																2