Trials begin of plaque-removing device:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The first procedures using a new catheter-based device for removing plaque loosened during stenting of heart bypass patients have begun in the US. The PercuSurge device, made by the Sunnyvale, California company of the same name, consists of an angioplasty guidewire with a low-pressure occlusion balloon at its tip. The device has the European CE mark and the FDA has granted an investigational device exemption for a multicentre, randomised study of the device, called SAFER (saphenous vein grafts angioplasty free of embolism randomised study).