Medtronic announced plans to introduce in Japan the Integrity coronary stent system for the treatment of atherosclerosis and the Endurant AAA stent graft system for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
Reimbursement for the Integrity coronary stent took effect on 1 Sept; reimbursement for the Endurant AAA stent graft will take effect on 1 Nov. Both devices were approved over the summer by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW).
Integrity coronary stent system
The Integrity coronary stent introduces an engineering advance called continuous sinusoid technology, which contributes to the device’s excellent deliverability—even through especially tight and tortuous heart arteries—without compromising other important device features, such as radial strength and radiopacity.
“The new platform is very deliverable and enables easy access to distal and tortuous anatomies; it also provides excellent strut apposition to the vessel wall,” said Sinsuke Nanto, a professor in the Department of Advanced Cardiovascular Therapeutics, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. “As a result, the Integrity stent will be a welcome addition to our daily clinical practice in Japan.”
Endurant AAA stent graft system
Because of its innovative design, the Endurant AAA stent graft conforms to a wide range of aortic anatomies, allowing more patients to be treated with endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) and avoid the need for major surgery.
“The Endurant stent graft has become an extremely popular device everywhere it is available,” said Takao Ohki, chairman of the Department of Surgery and professor and chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery at Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. “Based on the device’s impressive clinical results and my own personal clinical experience with it, I believe this MHLW shonin represents a significant step forward in the endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms.”
Ohki added, “With its low profile delivery system, accurate device delivery and tolerance for difficult anatomies, the Endurant stent graft is poised to become a dependable go-to device for Japanese physicians in cases ranging from the relatively straightforward to the extremely difficult.”
