Mar 11, 2002
First European Patient Treated With Guidant's Next-Generation Beating-Heart Surgery Product
New Stabilizer Systems Designed to Make Procedure Available to More Patients
Brussels, Belgium and Mainz, Germany - Guidant Corporation (NYSE and PCX: GDT), a world leader in the treatment of cardiovascular and vascular disease, today announced that its next-generation AXIUS(tm) Vacuum 2 Stabilizers for performing off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery, also called beating-heart surgery, was used to treat the first European patient at University Clinic of Mainz, in Mainz, Germany.
Professor and Dr. Ulrich Hake in the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery performed the procedure. The patient presented with severe unstable angina due to a 95 percent left main stenosis and a 90 percent stenosis of the dominant right coronary artery.
"In this patient, off-pump surgery was only possible because of the new AXIUS Vacuum 2 Stabilizers," said Hake. "The device performed perfectly during the procedure, and the patient was able to leave the hospital within five days.
"The stabilizers represent a milestone in beating-heart surgery," continued Hake. "I am quite certain that the AXIUS Vacuum 2 Stabilizers will increase the number of patients that will benefit from off-pump surgery."
Beating-heart surgery allows physicians to perform bypass surgery without stopping the heart and placing the patient on a heart-lung machine. A growing body of research shows that patients experience fewer side effects such as memory loss1 and recover more quickly, reducing hospital stay.2
Nearly 50,000 of a total of 300,000 annual bypass procedures in Europe are currently performed using off-pump technology, and that number is increasing every year.
"The AXIUS Vacuum 2 Stabilizer is a good example of how medical technology benefits both surgeons and patients," said Guido Neels, president, Guidant Europe. "This technology provides surgeons with greater flexibility to operate on difficult-to-access vessels, and at the same time provides the patient with the proven benefit of off-pump surgery."
Guidant Corporation pioneers lifesaving technology, giving an opportunity for better life today to 7 million cardiac and vascular patients worldwide. The company, driven by a strong entrepreneurial culture of 10,000 employees, develops, manufactures and markets a broad array of products and services that enable less invasive care for some of life's most threatening medical conditions.
- Murkin JM, Boyd WD, Ganapathy S, Adams SJ, Peterson RC. Beating heart surgery; why expect less central nervous system morbidity? Ann Thorac Surg. 1999;68(4);1498-1501.
- van Dijk D, Nierich AP, Jansen EW, Nathoe HM, Suyker WJ, Diephuis JC, van Boven WJ, Borst C, Buskens C, Buskens E, Grobbee DE, Robles De Medina EO, de Jaegere PP. Early Outcome After Off-Pump Verses On-pump Coronary Bypass Surgery: Results from a Randomized Study. Circulation. 2001;104(15):1761-6.