, and Washington, D.C. (October 17, 2005) -- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced the combined results from the BLAZE and BLAZE II registries showing that its second-generation FilterWire EZ™ Embolic Protection System reduces major adverse cardiac events during and after stent placement in patients with blockages in saphenous vein grafts (SVG) after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The results from the BLAZE registries were presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics symposium, in Washington, D.C.

SVGs are commonly used to bypass blocked coronary arteries. As many as one-third of patients experience significant blockages in the grafted vessel(s) within 12 years following CABG surgery and, as a result, must undergo balloon angioplasty or stenting. However, these procedures can cause small particles of the blockage to dislodge and migrate into small coronary arteries, impeding blood flow (distal embolization) and causing heart attacks.

“Stenting SVG's is challenging, given the risk of embolization associated with adverse cardiac events and SVG anatomy is often deceptively complex,