Jefferson the First Hospital in Philadelphia to Use Next Generation Drug Eluting Stent since FDA Approval
Thomas
Jefferson University Hospital is the first hospital in Philadelphia to
offer the next generation of drug eluting stents for the treatment of
coronary artery disease (CAD). Recently approved by the U.S Food and
Drug Administration, the XIENCE V Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent
System, has proven to be more effective in reducing adverse cardiac
events in recent clinical trials of patients with previous cases of
CAD.
“CAD
is the most common cause of death in the country so any advancement is
an important step forward,” said Michael Savage, M.D., director,
Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University
Hospital. “Jefferson is always looking to use leading edge technology
to advance the treatment options for our patients. According to a
recent study reported in Journal of the American Medical Association
(April 23, 2008), this new stent outperforms the most widely used drug
eluting stent on the market, so we couldn’t be happier to offer it to
our patients.”
Coronary
artery disease is a serious condition that occurs when plaque buildup
clogs the arteries and reduces blood flow to the heart. The blockage
can lead to chest pain, shortness of breath or even a heart attack. A
stent is a tiny wire mesh tube that is inserted into a clogged artery
during a minimally-invasive angioplasty procedure. Once inserted the
stent props open the artery and restores blood flow to the heart.
However, for some patients the stent’s benefit is lost after several
months dues to restenosis, a process where scar-like plaque clogs the
stent. Drug eluting stents are coated with a medication
(Everolimus,
in the case of XIENCE V) which is released in a controlled fashion over
time to prevent the artery from renarrowing, thereby decreasing the
need for a follow-up procedure.
“One
of the distinct features of the XIENCE V stent compared to the other
drug eluting stents on the market is its engineering,” said Savage.
“This stent is more easily delivered to the site of the blockage. It
doesn’t matter what kind of stent you have if you can’t get it to the
site of the blockage. Also the study published in JAMA showed a 43
percent reduction in major adverse cardiac events and a statistically
significant 50 percent reduction in renarrowing of the stented vessel
versus today’s most widely used stent. These are three important
advantages that set the XIENCE V apart.”
XIENCE
V is built upon the world’s most popular bare metal stent system. The
system design offers physicians the ability to deliver the stent to the
precise location of the blockage with ease, quickly restoring blood
flow to the heart. In two clinical trials, XIENCE V has been shown to
be superior to the most widely used drug eluting stent. In the SPIRIT
II trial, XIENCE V demonstrated superiority with a statistically
significant 69 percent reduction in the primary endpoint of in-stent
late loss at six months. In-stent late loss is the amount of blockage
due to scar-like plaque build-up that occurs in a stent over an amount
of time as the artery heals. In the SPIRIT III trial, XIENCE V
demonstrated superiority with a statistically significant 50 percent
reduction in the primary endpoint of in-segment late-loss at 8 months.
In addition, XIENCE V demonstrated a 45 percent reduced risk of major
adverse cardiac events such as heart attack, death and the need for
repeat procedure compared to the most widely used stents at two years
in the SPIRIT III trial.
Dr. Savage does not receive any compensation from XIENCE V manufacturer Abbott Vascular.
Along with Dr. Savage the rest of the interventional cardiology team that will be implanting the new stents are: Dr. Paul
Walinsky, Dr. David Fischman, Dr. David Ogilby and Babu Jasti.
Media Only Contact:
Richard Cushman
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Phone: (215) 955-6300
Published: 7/15/2008