Philips (NYSE: PHG) today announced results from the iMODERN trial evaluating immediate versus delayed treatment of narrowed arteries.
iMODERN (Instantaneous wave-free Ratio Guided Multivessel Revascularisation During PCI for Acute Myocardial Infarction) evaluated treatment approaches for heart attack patients, aiming to determine whether treating all blockages in one procedure is as safe and effective as waiting for a follow-up procedure.
Philips shared findings at the 2025 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in San Francisco. The company said it sought to answer a key question in heart attack treatment. It says many patients have multiple diseased arteries, meaning the optimal timing for complete treatment remains uncertain.
The Dutch medtech giant — one of the world’s largest medical device companies — says that, in treating STEMI, a serious type of heart attack, cardiologists urgently open the blocked artery causing the attack. However, they often don’t treat additional narrowed arteries. It attributes this to potential time constraints, patient stability, resources or failure to notice those arteries.
Philips’ new findings show that patients can safely have additional arteries treated immediately during the first procedure. The study looked at iFR, the company’s instantaneous wave-free ratio therapy. Philips develops iFR pressure wires and software used to guide immediate treatment decisions in the trial. Philips also provides advanced cardiac MRI technology, which guided the delayed strategy.
The company says physicians can complete the treatment in one session without compromising long-term outcomes. Its study enrolled 1,146 patients across 41 hospitals in 14 countries to address the issue at hand.
Philips set a main endpoint combining three outcomes: death, another heart attack or hospitalization for heart failure over three years. After three years of follow-up, the trial found no significant difference in major outcomes between the two approaches.
“These results complement current international guideline recommendations (Class I recommendation, Level A evidence) for complete revascularization in STEMI,” said Dr. Darshan Doshi, practicing interventional cardiologist and head of medical & clinical at Philips Image-Guided Therapy Devices. “By integrating physiological assessment, iMODERN’s evidence demonstrates that cardiologists can follow these findings for full revascularization while also tailoring treatment to each vessel’s true ischemic relevance.”
