September 22, 2010 – Trial data indicate that a new stent may be a safer solution to treat heart attack patients. The Apposition II study found that the Stentys self-apposing stent helps reduce the risk of malapposition in patients who have suffered an acute myocardial infarction (AMI).
The self-apposing stent fits snugly into the contour of a blood vessel. Once implanted, it behaves like a spring, changing its shape and diameter to adapt to the anatomic changes of the coronary arteries during the post-AMI phase.
The trial showed that, three days after the heart attack, 28 percent of patients treated with conventional stents displayed significant malapposition, meaning that the stent is not in contact with the artery wall. This puts patients at significant risk of potential fatal complications such as an implant blockage (in-stent thrombosis). In contrast, none of the patients treated with the Stentys stent had malapposition.
"We are very excited that the primary endpoint of the Apposition II study was reached successfully. The Stentys stents were all perfectly apposed whereas gross malapposition was observed in more than one in four patients treated with conventional stents. This is very important because malapposition is one of the key contributing factors causing stent thrombosis," said principal investigator Stefan Verheye, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Cardiology, Middelheim Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium.
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) affects 100,000 people each year in France and an additional 900,000 people in the United States.
For more information please visit: www.stentys.com
