Category: Drug-Eluting Stents

Study: African-Americans treated with drug-eluting stents at higher risk for blood clots

August 31, 2010 by MassDevice staff

African-Americans have double the risk for blood clots after being treated with drug-eluting stents, according to a a study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Assn.

In as few as 30 days, race was the strongest predictor for clotting after stents were implanted, the study showed.

The researchers analyzed data from 7,236 patients who, between mid-2003 through 2008, were treated with stents coated with clot-prevention drugs.

Cordis touts the 10-year anniversary of the first Cypher implantation

August 31, 2010 by MassDevice staff

Cordis Corp. is touting the 10-year anniversary of the first implantation of a drug-eluting stent, saying a now-85-year-old patient showed nearly complete coverage a decade after receiving the first Cypher stent.

The Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary said a 75-year-old woman was implanted with the sirolimus-eluting device in 1999, to treat a single lesion in the left anterior descending artery. In 2009, angiography, IVUS examination and an optical coherence tomography test showed "a complete coverage of over 90 percent of the analyzed struts," according to a press release.

Medtronic wins CE Mark for new drug-eluting stent system

August 30, 2010 by MassDevice staff

Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT) won CE Mark approval in the European Union for its new drug-eluting coronary stent system.

The Minneapolis-based medical device giant said the device's new design gives it superior mobility within a patient’s vasculature.

Medtronic said the stent's new "continuous sinusoid technology" gives the device significantly more deliverability than alternative stents when administered with the its MicroTrac delivery system.

Cordis wins again on appeal in 'heated' fight over Cypher stents

August 6, 2010 by MassDevice staff

Cordis does not use any heat to bond metal to polymer in its Cypher stents and that's more than cool with a federal appeals court.

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) this week affirmed a lower court decision that found Cypher did not infringe on patents held by Effingham, Ill.-based MarcTec LLC -- in effect, siding with the Johnson & Johnson unit because of the way it assembles the drug-eluting stent.

Boston Scientific commences yet another stent trial

August 4, 2010 by MassDevice staff

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) has begun enrolling patients for a clinical trial of its "fourth-generation" drug-eluting coronary stent.

The new device, entitled the Synergy, has a bioabsorbable polymer and everolimus drug coating and the same alloy design used in the company's Promus Element stent.

Boston Scientific launches Taxus Element in the EU

June 10, 2010 by MassDevice staff

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) has the first commercial implantations of Taxus Element in Europe under its belt, a month after winning CE Mark approval in the European Union.

The Natick, Mass.-based medical device maker said the first European use of the device occurred in Italy and the U.K. It's the third iteration of the company's Taxus paclitaxel-eluting platform, made of a platinum-chromium alloy using a new design.

Boston Scientific commences another stent trial

May 26, 2010 by MassDevice staff

Boston Scientific Corp. (NYSE:BSX) set out to compare its new Promus Element drug-eluting stent system with Abbott's (ABT) Xience Prime.

The BSX-funded study will evaluate coronary revascularization outcomes in a 2,980-patient sample across 50 sites in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.

Former iterations of the Promus line were private-label versions of Abbott’s Xience V drug-eluting stents, but the Natick, Mass.-based stent pioneer's deal to rebrand its rival's devices ended last year.