Medical device giant St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) had high praise for its own quadripolar leads, saying that blow away any competition from older bipolar leads.
The Quartet quadripolar leads give physicians more options when establishing treatment parameters for implanted defibrillators, and a growing body of clinical evidence suggests that the additional flexibility translates to fewer adverse events.
"The risk of LV lead-related events was more than 40% lower in patients implanted with a Quartet CRT-D system relative to patients implanted with a bipolar CRT-D system," Dr. Giuseppe Boriani, chairman of the steering committee for St. Jude’s MORE-CRT study, said on behalf of the company. "The overall freedom from intraoperative and post-operative LV lead-related events was significantly higher in quadripolar CRT group versus bipolar CRT group. These data are very important in deciding how we treat our patients going forward."
The MORE-CRT study spanned more than 1,000 patients at 60 centers in 13 countries, representing the 1st randomized large-scale study of its kind. Researchers primarily examined lead-related adverse events at 6 months following surgery, finding significant benefits with the quadripolar leads.
Nearly 86% of the Quartet group was free from lead-related adverse events at 6 months, compared with about 77% in the bipolar lead group, according to a St. Jude statement.
St. Jude has been actively touring its quadripolar lead studies, since the devices won FDA approval in 2011. At the time the breakthrough FDA win was overshadowed by a high-profile recall of the company’s Riata leads. Focus has since drifted away from Riata, letting the Quartet system take the stage as a promising new treatment platform for patients with heart failure.
"The design of St. Jude Medical’s Quartet quadripolar technology is unique," chief medical officer and global clinical affairs vice president Dr. Mark Carlson said in prepared remarks. "The MORE-CRT study confirms that our quadripolar system has set the standard for the quadripolar pacing industry and the study is a strong addition to the more than 100 publications showing our technology improves outcomes and quality while reducing costs."
The latest results were presented during a hot line late-breaking session at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.
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