16 BIODESIGN Technology Failure is the price of success in medical innovation
Vol.18 No.03 March 2022 Official Publication
Featured in this issue:
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YOUR SOCIETY SVS creates membership section for women
EARLY CAREER Lessons from the life of Achilles
CORNER STITCH Joining the vascular fold
INSUFFICIENCY
VENOUS STENTING
DEDICATED
Emerging autogenous venous valve formation system sees ‘continual improvement’
vs.
NON-DEDICATED
BY BRYAN KAY
Researchers place venous stenting under the spotlight at AVF 2022 BY JOCELYN HUDSON
VENOUS STENTING WAS A HOT TOPIC ON THE agenda of the recent American Venous Forum (AVF) annual meeting, held this year Feb. 23–26 in Orlando, BY BRYAN KAY the audience’s attention, researchers Florida. Catching highlighted a head-to-head study of dedicated versus non-dedicated stents, as well as new subgroup data on the Zilver Vena (Cook Medical) venous selfexpanding stent. “Iliofemoral venous obstruction when not adequately treated results in chronic debilitating disease and poor quality of life,” said Lillian Tran, MD, of the department of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who noted that deep venous stenting is “increasingly preferred” as the mainstay treatment over medical therapy alone. According to Tran, this move towards stenting necessitates studies comparing the performance of novel, dedicated venous stents with the more traditional, non-
dedicated stents. At AVF, Tran reported the findings of such a head-to-head study at a single center, detailing that the use of dedicated venous stents was associated with a significant reduction in extension into the inferior vena cava (IVC) without reduced early patency rates compared to non-dedicated stents. The presenter stressed that outcomes after iliac vein stenting rely on multiple technical considerations and stent attributes. “In addition to adequate sizing and consistency in deployment, […] venous stents must
An emerging endovenous valve formation system designed to treat patients with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) with evidence of deep venous reflux has demonstrated continual improvement since U.S. investigators started performing clinical cases with the device 18 months ago, according to recently presented early data. The BlueLeaf procedure, currently undergoing clinical research worldwide, has shown a rate of 90% technical success among the first 10 patients treated in the U.S., William Marston, MD, one of the INFINITE-US early feasibility study investigators, told the 2022 annual meeting of the
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