For more than 55 years, Cook Medical has worked shoulder to shoulder with some of the pioneers of peripheral medicine, including Dr. Charles Dotter. Dr. Dotter is considered the father of interventional medicine.
Today, Cook Medical is even more focused on therapies and technologies to treat PAD, including technology that combines medications and devices. Cook offers a variety of stents and angioplasty devices that are designed to get patients back to living.
From the beginning, Cook Medical was built around therapies to treat PAD. Those therapies have expanded over the decades to include the development of balloon technology.
See the types of balloons we have available today.
Cook Medical has been a pioneer in the development of drug-eluting stent (DES) technology, combining medication with the device for the treatment of PAD. Cook’s device, Zilver PTX, is the world’s first DES for the treatment of PAD in the superficial femoral artery (SFA). Zilver PTX is coated with paclitaxel.
Zilver PTX procedure animation
Zilver PTX is a stent that is coated with a drug that helps keep arteries from closing. The stent is used to treat the fatty deposits that can restrict blood flow in the largest artery of the thigh. This vessel is called the superficial femoral artery (SFA). The Zilver PTX stent is made of an alloy (a combination of metals) called nitinol. Things that are made of nitinol return to their original shape after they are squeezed or bent. Nitinol makes the Zilver PTX stent open up by itself when your doctor puts it in your artery. Stents like Zilver PTX that open up by themselves are called self-expanding stents. Zilver PTX is the first stent with a drug coating that the FDA approved for use outside of the heart.
Zilver PTX holds open the SFA and delivers the paclitaxel. The drug helps stop tissue growth that could close an artery. This treatment is highly valued by patients because it improves their quality of life and decreases their need for repeat procedures. While this treatment can be very helpful for people suffering from PAD, it might cause problems for some patients.
The following people should not get Zilver PTX:
Warning:
A signal for increased risk of late mortality has been identified following the use of paclitaxel-coated balloons and paclitaxel-eluting stents for femoropopliteal arterial disease beginning approximately 2-3 years post-treatment compared with the use of non-drug coated devices. There is uncertainty regarding the magnitude and mechanism for the increased late mortality risk, including the impact of repeat paclitaxel-coated device exposure. Physicians should discuss this late mortality signal and the benefits and risks of available treatment options with their patients.
Remember, every patient is different, and your doctor knows you best. After reading the information on this site, make an appointment to talk to your doctor to help you make the right decision about any treatments or procedures.
