Abbott received FDA approval for its Supera Peripheral Stent System for treating occluded superficial femoral and proximal popliteal arteries of the legs. The nitinol stent was developed to “mimic rather than resist” the movement of the arteries, being flexible while keeping the lumen open during physical activity and resisting kinks.
Here’s more from the announcement:
“Doctors are increasingly identifying peripheral artery disease as a major cause of leg pain, which can limit people’s ability to live a healthy lifestyle,” said Kenneth Rosenfield, M.D., section head of Vascular Medicine and Intervention at Massachusetts General Hospital and the principal investigator of the SUPERB clinical trial, which evaluated the Supera stent. “Treatment with the Supera stent, as shown by the results of the SUPERB study, is very effective in easing leg pain, enabling the majority of patients to resume their activities.”
Data from the SUPERB clinical trial, which was used to support FDA approval of the Supera stent, have shown the Supera stent to be highly effective in opening up blocked blood vessels in the upper leg, even in difficult cases, and results have been shown to last over time.2 In addition, during the first year after treatment with the Supera stent there were no stent fractures, and at two years there was a very low stent fracture rate of 0.5 percent.2 Stent fractures are a known risk of treatment with traditional metallic stents in the leg due to the frequency and type of movement in this part of the body.
Press release: Abbott Announces FDA Approval of Its Supera® Stent to Treat People with Peripheral Artery Disease…
