Studies highlight 'real world' use, safety of drug-elut...( NEW ORLEANS La (March 26 2007) -- Re...),Health

NEW ORLEANS, La (March 26, 2007) -- Research presented today at the American College of Cardiologys Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit 2007 in New Orleans, La, paints a picture of the "real world" use of drug-eluting stents and offers new insight into the connection between blood clotting, or thrombosis, in the stenta dangerous complicationand adherence and responsiveness to anti-clotting medication. Innovation in Intervention: i2 Summit is an annual meeting for practicing cardiovascular interventionalists sponsored by the American College of Cardiology in partnership with the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

Long-Term Safety of Drug-Eluting Stents in Off-Label Use: Results of the MATRIX Registry (Presentation Number: 2414-6) A large community-based registry is offering a wealth of information on the "real world" effectiveness and risks associated with long-term use of drug-eluting stents to treat a wide variety of patients with coronary artery diseasemost of whom do not fit the strict profile used in clinical trials leading to device approval by the Food and Drug Administration. "Complex patients come with complex lesions," said Dr. George Dangas, program director of interventional cardiology at Columbia University Medical Center, New York City. "The only way to test drug-eluting stents as physicians really use them is to include an unselected population, just as you would find in the community."

So far, the MATRIX Registry has enrolled more than 1,500 patients treated with the Cypher stent (Cordis, Johnson & Johnson), which slowly releases a coating of sirolimus into the artery wall to prevent overgrowth of scar tissue and renarrowing of the artery. Some 34 percent of patients in the registry have diabetes, 33 percent have a history of heart attack, and well over half have previously had a catheter-based intervention or bypass surgery to treat clogged coronary arteries. Approximately 80 percent of patients would
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Contact: Leslie Humbel
lhumbel@spectrumscience.com
504-613-2418
American College of Cardiology
26-Mar-2007