New Coil Technology Gets the Job Done

Technologies to be discussed during Thursday’s session “New Devices and Concepts for Embolization, Thrombectomy and Thrombolysis,” are the newest, most advanced, and most promising in a field and will give the audience practical information for implementing these innovations in clinical practice.  

Devices used during these procedures “were archaic for a while,” said session moderator Dr. Nicholas Morrissey, a vascular surgeon at The New York Presbyterian Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, both in New York. “We relied on old techniques. Recently, some newer devices have launched us into an era where things can be done a lot quicker and safer.

“It’s a great session because it is going to expose people to technologies that are much more advanced than they realized,” he said, “but simple enough that people will leave that session and be able to treat their patients the next day differently and more effectively.”

The program, which will be co-moderated by Dr. Christopher Kwolek, director of vascular and endovascular surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston, begins with two presentations about Penumbra’s new peripheral occlusion device (POD) coils. Dr. Frank Arko of the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute of Charlotte, N.C., will discuss the technical aspects and clinical experience with these coils, and Dr. Claudio Schonholz of the Medical University of South Carolina Heart & Vascular Center in Charleston will discuss experience with POD coil embolization in the aneurysm coiling efficiency (ACE) multicenter study.

“This coil has an extra little wire at the end that allows you to anchor it into a blood vessel,” Dr. Morrissey said. Unlike previous types of coils that had to be injected via catheter, devices such as the POD coil “offer more of a controlled release,” he said. “You can pack them in a little tighter and only release them when you’re sure they’re in the right place. That eliminates the risk of them breaking off and going down to the wrong artery. It will probably help shorten operating room times and improve outcomes when we’re trying to embolize something therapeutically, which is something we’re doing more and more these days.”

The session also features three talks about the Indigo Catheter Thrombectomy System, which will look at a novel way to remove clots from medium-sized and small arteries and discuss results from the PRISM trial; advantages of the device in treating ALI; and how the system reduces the need for thrombolytics and decreases the risk and cost of treatment for ALI.

“This technique, originally used in clearing clots to the brain, suctions out the clot,” Dr. Morrissey said. “It’s a very effective tool for medium-sized blood vessels. You can use the device to clear out pathways without having to give large amounts of aggressive clot-busting medications, so you minimize the risk of bleeding. You also can get it done through a very small sheath without having to make an incision in the patient, and can get it done quickly.”

Also included in the lineup are presentations about technical tips and tricks to help manage bleeding associated with catheter-directed thrombolysis and for when thrombosis complicates retrograde access for complex lower extremity interventions. The afternoon will conclude with a talk by Dr. Martin Bjorck of University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, suggesting that there is no advantage to giving heparin with intra-arterial thrombolysis.

“We’re excited about these technologies: They’re taking what we’ve done now for a long time and bringing it to a more sophisticated level,” Dr. Morrissey said. “Our session highlights two important messages. First, if you have a technology that gets the job done but is cumbersome and a little bit dangerous, taking it to the next level can improve its safety profile and its efficacy, allowing the technology to be brought to patients who may not have been able to have it before. As a result, you can potentially decrease OR times, increasing patient safety and decreasing costs to the health care system. Fine tuning the technology to modernize it is going to make a tremendous difference.

“In addition, by doing good quality studies and investigating the status quo, you may actually find something that’s less invasive and less risky, and can achieve the same effect without exposing patients to the same risk.”

Session 62: New Devices and Concepts for Embolization, Thrombectomy, and Thrombolysis

Thursday, 4:48 p.m. – 5:44 p.m.

Grand Ballroom West, 3rd Floor

Technologies to be discussed during Thursday’s session “New Devices and Concepts for Embolization, Thrombectomy and Thrombolysis,” are the newest, most advanced, and most promising in a field and will give the audience practical information for implementing these innovations in clinical practice.  

Devices used during these procedures “were archaic for a while,” said session moderator Dr. Nicholas Morrissey, a vascular surgeon at The New York Presbyterian Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, both in New York. “We relied on old techniques. Recently, some newer devices have launched us into an era where things can be done a lot quicker and safer.

“It’s a great session because it is going to expose people to technologies that are much more advanced than they realized,” he said, “but simple enough that people will leave that session and be able to treat their patients the next day differently and more effectively.”

The program, which will be co-moderated by Dr. Christopher Kwolek, director of vascular and endovascular surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston, begins with two presentations about Penumbra’s new peripheral occlusion device (POD) coils. Dr. Frank Arko of the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute of Charlotte, N.C., will discuss the technical aspects and clinical experience with these coils, and Dr. Claudio Schonholz of the Medical University of South Carolina Heart & Vascular Center in Charleston will discuss experience with POD coil embolization in the aneurysm coiling efficiency (ACE) multicenter study.

“This coil has an extra little wire at the end that allows you to anchor it into a blood vessel,” Dr. Morrissey said. Unlike previous types of coils that had to be injected via catheter, devices such as the POD coil “offer more of a controlled release,” he said. “You can pack them in a little tighter and only release them when you’re sure they’re in the right place. That eliminates the risk of them breaking off and going down to the wrong artery. It will probably help shorten operating room times and improve outcomes when we’re trying to embolize something therapeutically, which is something we’re doing more and more these days.”

The session also features three talks about the Indigo Catheter Thrombectomy System, which will look at a novel way to remove clots from medium-sized and small arteries and discuss results from the PRISM trial; advantages of the device in treating ALI; and how the system reduces the need for thrombolytics and decreases the risk and cost of treatment for ALI.

“This technique, originally used in clearing clots to the brain, suctions out the clot,” Dr. Morrissey said. “It’s a very effective tool for medium-sized blood vessels. You can use the device to clear out pathways without having to give large amounts of aggressive clot-busting medications, so you minimize the risk of bleeding. You also can get it done through a very small sheath without having to make an incision in the patient, and can get it done quickly.”

Also included in the lineup are presentations about technical tips and tricks to help manage bleeding associated with catheter-directed thrombolysis and for when thrombosis complicates retrograde access for complex lower extremity interventions. The afternoon will conclude with a talk by Dr. Martin Bjorck of University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, suggesting that there is no advantage to giving heparin with intra-arterial thrombolysis.

“We’re excited about these technologies: They’re taking what we’ve done now for a long time and bringing it to a more sophisticated level,” Dr. Morrissey said. “Our session highlights two important messages. First, if you have a technology that gets the job done but is cumbersome and a little bit dangerous, taking it to the next level can improve its safety profile and its efficacy, allowing the technology to be brought to patients who may not have been able to have it before. As a result, you can potentially decrease OR times, increasing patient safety and decreasing costs to the health care system. Fine tuning the technology to modernize it is going to make a tremendous difference.

“In addition, by doing good quality studies and investigating the status quo, you may actually find something that’s less invasive and less risky, and can achieve the same effect without exposing patients to the same risk.”

Session 62: New Devices and Concepts for Embolization, Thrombectomy, and Thrombolysis

Thursday, 4:48 p.m. – 5:44 p.m.

Grand Ballroom West, 3rd Floor

Technologies to be discussed during Thursday’s session “New Devices and Concepts for Embolization, Thrombectomy and Thrombolysis,” are the newest, most advanced, and most promising in a field and will give the audience practical information for implementing these innovations in clinical practice.  

Devices used during these procedures “were archaic for a while,” said session moderator Dr. Nicholas Morrissey, a vascular surgeon at The New York Presbyterian Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, both in New York. “We relied on old techniques. Recently, some newer devices have launched us into an era where things can be done a lot quicker and safer.

“It’s a great session because it is going to expose people to technologies that are much more advanced than they realized,” he said, “but simple enough that people will leave that session and be able to treat their patients the next day differently and more effectively.”

The program, which will be co-moderated by Dr. Christopher Kwolek, director of vascular and endovascular surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School in Boston, begins with two presentations about Penumbra’s new peripheral occlusion device (POD) coils. Dr. Frank Arko of the Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute of Charlotte, N.C., will discuss the technical aspects and clinical experience with these coils, and Dr. Claudio Schonholz of the Medical University of South Carolina Heart & Vascular Center in Charleston will discuss experience with POD coil embolization in the aneurysm coiling efficiency (ACE) multicenter study.

“This coil has an extra little wire at the end that allows you to anchor it into a blood vessel,” Dr. Morrissey said. Unlike previous types of coils that had to be injected via catheter, devices such as the POD coil “offer more of a controlled release,” he said. “You can pack them in a little tighter and only release them when you’re sure they’re in the right place. That eliminates the risk of them breaking off and going down to the wrong artery. It will probably help shorten operating room times and improve outcomes when we’re trying to embolize something therapeutically, which is something we’re doing more and more these days.”

The session also features three talks about the Indigo Catheter Thrombectomy System, which will look at a novel way to remove clots from medium-sized and small arteries and discuss results from the PRISM trial; advantages of the device in treating ALI; and how the system reduces the need for thrombolytics and decreases the risk and cost of treatment for ALI.

“This technique, originally used in clearing clots to the brain, suctions out the clot,” Dr. Morrissey said. “It’s a very effective tool for medium-sized blood vessels. You can use the device to clear out pathways without having to give large amounts of aggressive clot-busting medications, so you minimize the risk of bleeding. You also can get it done through a very small sheath without having to make an incision in the patient, and can get it done quickly.”

Also included in the lineup are presentations about technical tips and tricks to help manage bleeding associated with catheter-directed thrombolysis and for when thrombosis complicates retrograde access for complex lower extremity interventions. The afternoon will conclude with a talk by Dr. Martin Bjorck of University Hospital in Uppsala, Sweden, suggesting that there is no advantage to giving heparin with intra-arterial thrombolysis.

“We’re excited about these technologies: They’re taking what we’ve done now for a long time and bringing it to a more sophisticated level,” Dr. Morrissey said. “Our session highlights two important messages. First, if you have a technology that gets the job done but is cumbersome and a little bit dangerous, taking it to the next level can improve its safety profile and its efficacy, allowing the technology to be brought to patients who may not have been able to have it before. As a result, you can potentially decrease OR times, increasing patient safety and decreasing costs to the health care system. Fine tuning the technology to modernize it is going to make a tremendous difference.

“In addition, by doing good quality studies and investigating the status quo, you may actually find something that’s less invasive and less risky, and can achieve the same effect without exposing patients to the same risk.”

Session 62: New Devices and Concepts for Embolization, Thrombectomy, and Thrombolysis

Thursday, 4:48 p.m. – 5:44 p.m.

Grand Ballroom West, 3rd Floor