WASHINGTON, D.C.--Use of the Zilver PTX (paclitaxel) drug-eluting stent (Cook Medical) in comparison to bare-metal stents (BMS) reduced restenosis rates by 63 percent, and proved to have better outcomes than primary percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) for femoropopliteal peripheral artery disease (PAD) patients, according to the results of the Zilver PTX late-breaking clinical trial presented Sept. 24 at the 22nd annual Transcatheter Cardiovacular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific meeting.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--The implantation of a polymer-free sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) (Yukon-BTX, Translumina) for infrapopliteal peripheral vascular disease results in significant improvements in primary and secondary patency, compared with bare-metal stents (BMS), based on the results of DES-BTK [below the knee] trial, a late breaking clinical trial Sept. 24 at the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference.

WASHINGTON, D.C.Principal Investigator Mohsen Sharifi, MD, of the Arizona Cardiovascular Consultants and Vein clinic and professor at A.T. Still University in Mesa, Ariz., reviews the results of the TORPEDO (Thombus Obliteration by Rapid Percutaneous Endovenous Intervention in Deep Venous Occlusion) trial, the first of its kind to compare percutaneous endovenous intervention (PEVI) techniques to anticoagulation therapy alone in acute symptomatic proximal deep vein thrombosis (DVT) patients.

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Use of the MOXY paclitaxel-eluting balloon to treat stenosis of the femoropopliteal arteries beats the use of standard percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, proving a reduction in clinical events and a shorter duration of antiplatelet therapy, according to Dierk Scheinert, MD, of Herzzentrum Leipzig, in Leipzig, Germany, who presented results of the LEVANT I trial today at the 2010 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) annual meeting.

WASHINGTON, D.C.Large disparities are found between the prevalence of aortic stenosis and the treatment of the disease, which needs to become more aggressive. Aortic valve replacement procedures may serve this purpose best, said Raj R. Makkar, MD, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, during a presentation Sept. 22 at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) annual meeting.

The angiogenic therapy NV1FGF, being investigated to help restore blood flow to critical limb ischemia patients, failed to show superiority over placebo in the phase III TAMARIS trial, according to a statement issued by Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis.

Avinger has begun enrolling patients into the CONNECT trial, a prospective, multicenter, non-randomized trial that will assess its Wildcat Catheters ability to cross chronic total occlusions (CTO) in femoropopliteal lesions in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD).

The risk and harms of carotid stenting compared with endarterectomy decrease with younger age, and stenting is best avoided in patients age 70 and older, according to the results of a meta-analysis conducted by the Carotid Stenting Trialists Collaboration (CSTC) and published in the Sept. 10 issue of the Lancet.