Cordis debuts S.M.A.R.T stent

Cordis Endovascular, a division of Cordis Corp, has announced the availability of its S.M.A.R.T. stent for primary stenting in the iliac artery, which allows blood flow to the legs. It is the first nitinol stent approved for primary stenting of the iliac artery, the company notes.

Iliac arteries are commonly diseased in patients with peripheral arterial disease and the most preferred treatment option is angioplasty, the firm explains. However, complications from angioplasty procedures such as re-clogging of vessels have limited the long-term success of this approach. Vascular stents are being used increasingly as an addition to iliac artery angioplasty. For patients, treatment of a diseased iliac artery may enable them to walk further and experience less leg pain when walking, it adds.

"The S.M.A.R.T. stent showed excellent patency and procedural success results, and in some situations may be placed with higher precision compared to the Wallstent," said Donald Ponecof the Tri City Medical Center, Oceanside, California, USA, and principal investigator of the Cordis Randomized Iliac Stent Project trial. The safety and effectiveness of the S.M.A.R.T. stent was established based on data from the prospective, randomized, multi-center CRISP clinical trial, said Cordis.