Abbott has proudly announced that its Absorb bioresorbable vascular scaffold (don’t you dare call it a stent) is now being made available throughout Europe and in some Latin American and Asia Pacific nations. The device is made of polylactide and looks like a typical stent, but post implantation it slowly dissolves into the bloodstream.
This allows the device to be used to support vessel walls, yet disappear once correct anatomy has been restored. This helps more blood to move through the vessel once the stent has dissolved. Moreover, a permanent stent puts restrictions on the healthy expansion and contraction of vessel walls, limiting the value of exercise for the patient.
“This innovation represents a true paradigm shift in how we treat coronary artery disease. With the launch of Absorb, a scaffold that disappears after doing its job is no longer a dream, but a reality,” said Patrick W. Serruys, M.D., Ph.D., professor of interventional cardiology at the Thoraxcentre, Erasmus University Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. “Patients are excited about Absorb since it may allow blood vessels to return to a more natural state and expand long-term diagnostic and treatment options.”
The international launch of Absorb is supported by a robust clinical trial program that encompasses five studies in more than 20 countries around the world. Study data indicate that Absorb performs similar to a best-in-class drug eluting stent across traditional measures such as major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and target lesion revascularization (TLR), while providing patients with the added benefits associated with a device that dissolves over time. As the Absorb scaffold dissolves, vascular function is potentially restored to the blood vessel, allowing more blood to flow through the vessel as the body requires.
Press release: Abbott Announces International Launch of the Absorb™ Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold
Flashbacks: Abbott Gets EU OK for World’s First Bioresorbable Drug Eluting Stent; Abbott Explores Use of Bioresorbable Stents to Treat Critical Limb Ischemia; Abbott Reports Positive Data from Study of Its Bioabsorbable Drug Eluting Stent; Abbott’s Bioabsorbable Stent Showing Promise at Three Years; Abbott’s Bioresorbable Stent Continues to Prove Itself in Trials