A new treatment method—drug-coated stents
Drug-coated stents have made a remarkable impact on the treatment of heart disease. These devices—small metal “scaffolds” that hold open blocked arteries—are coated with medicines that help keep arteries open for extended periods. It's believed that this same technology can help patients who suffer from PAD.
It's believed that they may become the standard of care for many cardiovascular patients.
BenefitsBack to top
What are the benefits of drug-coated stents? In many cases, patients who have been treated with bare metal stents (without any drug coating) experience a renarrowing of the arteries over time. This happens when cells grow around the stent, essentially creating scar tissue, and cause the blood vessel to narrow again. In fact, statistics show that ≥ 60 percent of patients will suffer from a renarrowing of arteries over time, making it necessary to repeat the procedure.
The newest advancement is to coat a stent with a medicine that, released over time, can often help prevent the renarrowing—or scarring—of the arteries.
A new approachBack to top
It's this technology that Cook Medical, manufacturer of many of the world's best-selling minimally invasive medical device technologies for the treatment of vascular diseases, has used in the development of the Zilver® PTX® Drug-Eluting Peripheral Stent. Cook's Zilver PTX stent is coated with paclitaxel, a drug approved for use as an anticancer agent and used successfully with coronary stents to reduce the risk of renarrowing of the coronary arteries.
Clinical studies have demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of this new device to treat blockages above the knee in the major artery in the thigh (the femoropopliteal artery). These clinical trials are being conducted at investigative centers around the world.
How it would workBack to top
A surgeon gains arterial access through the groin and guides a Zilver PTX stent to the narrowed artery with a catheter. The stent is deployed and expands to stay in place to help keep the artery open after the catheter is withdrawn. The drug paclitaxel, which coats the stent, is released into the vessel to help prevent the renarrowing of the artery over time.
Instructions for Use:
Please refer to the Zilver PTX IFU for indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions and potential adverse events. PDF Download »
