Cath Lab Digest

AngioJet® Therapy Shown Safe and Effective As Part of Rescue Percutaneous Coronary Interventions

Study Shows Interventional Techniques, Including AngioJet® Therapy for Significant Thrombus, Can Be Performed with Excellent Outcomes in High-Risk Patients Following Failed Clot-Busting Drug Therapy

Possis Medical, Inc., announced the recent publication of an important clinical study that included its AngioJet® Rheolytic Thrombectomy Catheter System. The study evaluated clinical outcomes in high-risk acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients whose initial treatment with thrombolytic (clot-busting) drugs had failed, and who therefore required urgent, rescue percutaneous catheter-based intervention (PCI).

The study was conducted by Dr. Ray Matthews and his colleagues at Good Samaritan Hospital and the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. It appears in the February 2006 issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions. Over 200 patients were included in the study; 21 percent of these received AngioJet treatment as part of the rescue PCI. The authors concluded in part: This observational, consecutive, real-world study of contemporary rescue PCI for failed thrombolysis shows a high use of coronary stents, Rheolytic thrombectomy, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors, and intraortic balloon pump placement. Angiographic and clinical success was high with low bleeding complications and low in-hospital mortality.

Dr. Matthews will participate in a roundtable discussion of AngioJet coronary thrombectomy by leading interventional cardiologists, hosted by Possis Medical, at the March annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

Abbott Launches New Specialty Catheter Technology in U.S.

Abbott announced the introduction of a new specialty catheter known as the Asahi Tornus® specialty catheter. This stainless steel catheter is engineered to deliver therapeutic, minimally invasive balloon catheters and stents to vessels blocked with chronic occlusions. The Tornus, which was cleared for marketing by the U.S. FDA, was launched at the Third International Chronic Total Occlusion Summit.

The Tornus stainless steel catheter gives us more support for accessing a type of occlusion that for decades has represented a major frustration for interventionalists, said Gregg W. Stone, MD, Division of Cardiology, Columbia University Medical Center and the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, New York. About 15 percent of the patients we see have this type of a blockage. The Tornus catheter allows us to cross dense areas of vessel blockage so they can be successfully dilated and stented.

The Tornus catheter is made of stainless steel to provide extra support during operator handling. The proprietary Tornus design consists of several hair-thin, stainless steel strands braided together to enhance flexibility and strength, along with a safety-release valve at the proximal end to indicate when the device has reached maximum rotation, and a specialized tapered distal tip with a radio-opaque marker for optimal visualization in navigating difficult-to-access areas. The device is available in two sizes: 2.1 Fr for accessing lesions that are more difficult to navigate and 2.6 Fr for circumstances requiring more support to push through the lesion.

The Tornus is manufactured by Japan-based Asahi Intecc Co., Ltd. Abbott has a licensing agreement with Asahi Intecc to distribute its guidewires in the U.S. and certain countries worldwide.