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AngioDynamics announces FDA clearance of expanded indications for Auryon atherectomy system
AngioDynamics recently announced receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance of an expanded indication for the Auryon atherectomy system to include arterial thrombectomy. The FDA recently cleared the expanded indication for the Auryon system’s 2mm and 2.35mm catheters to include adjacent…
The top 10 most popular Vascular Specialist stories in February
February’s top 10 includes a highlight from the 2022 Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society (VESS) winter annual meeting and an interview with Melissa Kirkwood, MD, and colleagues at UT Southwestern in Dallas, Texas, regarding the lightweight shield designed to reduce…
Ra Medical Systems receives FDA approval for increased enrollment in atherectomy clinical trial
Ra Medical Systems, a medical device company focused on developing the excimer laser system to treat vascular diseases, has announced that enrollment has reached 95 subjects in the pivotal clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the DABRA…
Medtronic issues voluntary recall for TurboHawk Plus directional atherectomy system
On Feb. 7, Medtronic issued a notice emphasizing that the same warnings and precautions issued for the HawkOne directional atherectomy system also apply for the company’s TurboHawk Plus 6Fr system due to design similarities. The company stresses that this is…
Index atherectomy interventions for claudication ‘is associated with higher’ reintervention rates vs. other technologies
Atherectomy use during index peripheral vascular interventions in claudicants is associated with higher reintervention rates when compared to other technologies, a newly unveiled study by Caitlin Hicks, MD, and colleagues at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, shows. The researchers…
Stenting found to be superior to atherectomy, balloon angioplasty in reducing PAD mortality risk
Stenting reduced mortality risk in patients undergoing interventions for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) by more than 30% when compared to plain balloon angioplasty, and 40% contrasted with atherectomy, a recent propensity-matched analysis found. The Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI)-derived data drew…
Interventions associated with ‘poor’ two-year relief of intermittent claudication symptoms
Peripheral vascular interventions for intermittent claudication were linked to “poor” two-year relief of symptoms in the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) database, a new study published in the May issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS) found. First-named author Jonathan…
Study identifies ‘critical need’ for guidelines on appropriate use of atherectomy
No data currently exist to support the use of atherectomy over other procedures for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and the healthcare expenditure associated with the procedure is substantial, write Caitlin W. Hicks MD, assistant professor of surgery at John…
OBL: In praise of the office-based interventional lab
Vascular surgery has undergone dramatic changes over the last 30 years. What was once a traditional open surgical discipline has now become a hybrid specialty that involves open surgery and endovascular techniques. As vascular surgeons became more adept at endovascular…
Fempop atherectomy: Are high reimbursement amounts incentivizing inappropriate medical provider care?
Reimbursement-per-procedure for femoropopliteal atherectomy and stenting has increased at about the same rate for national providers as a whole and vascular surgeons specifically—at the same time as much higher rates were recorded for radiologists and general surgeons, an analysis of…