August 26, 2008 - In a major landmark for advanced interventional technology to treat aortic disease, the Zenith Branch Iliac Endovascular Graft has been used to treat the world’s 1,000th patient undergoing endovascular treatment for an aorto-iliac or iliac aneurysm.
Dr. Ferdinand Serracino-Inglott, one of only 200 vascular surgeons performing this type of surgery in Europe, carried out the minimally invasive endovascular procedure at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, U.K. The stent-graft used in this procedure was manufactured by Cook Medical.
The 1,000th patient, James Chambers, had an infra-renal aortic aneurysm extending to involve his right iliac artery. He underwent an elective endovascular procedure earlier this year. Following the procedure, Chambers made a quick and uneventful recovery.
“Abdominal aortic aneurysms sometimes extend to involve the iliac arteries,” Dr. Serracino-Inglott explains. “With traditional stent-grafts, treating such aneurysms involves blocking off the blood supply to the buttocks, pelvis and genital organs. This may lead to impotence and severe buttock pain on walking. Cook’s advanced endovascular technology to preserve blood flow to the internal iliac artery, however, allows placement of the advanced stent-graft while retaining crucial blood flow, lessening the risk of those complications.”
The company manufactures two versions of the endograft, the Zenith Helical Graft and the Zenith Branch Iliac Graft, for use depending on patient anatomy.
A stent-graft is a tubular structure composed of two elements. The stent is a self-expanding mesh-like structure made of metal (such as stainless steel). Its function is to provide support to the graft. The latter is composed of a special fabric that is impervious to blood and lines the stent. They advance the stent graft upwards, through small incisions in the arteries at the groin, under X-ray guidance, to precisely place the device within the aorta. Once released from the catheter, the stent graft lines the aortic aneurysm from within. Once the stent graft is in place, blood flows through the opened stent graft as opposed to through the aneurysm, thereby reducing the risk of rupture.
For more information: www.stent-graft.com, www.cookmedical.com
March 20, 2024 
