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New treatment designed to prevent
blood clots in vascular grafts
Surgeons at the Methodist
DeBakey Heart Center in
Houston were among the first
in the U.S. to implant a new vascular
graft, which is engineered to reduce the
risk of blood clots in patients treated
for peripheral arterial disease (PAD),
which affects as many as 12 million
Americans over the age of 50.
The new Gore graft, approved
for use in the U.S. in November, is
the first vascular graft available in
the U.S. that has a blood-thinner
permanently bonded to its surface to
prevent clotting long-term. It is part
of an emerging class of products
that combine mechanical and
biological elements to address severe
atherosclerosis.
“Because the blood-thinning drug
stays on the graft, rather than flowing
out into the blood stream, this graft
prevents blood clots from forming
inside the graft and causing graft
failure,” said Dr. Alan B. Lumsden,
vascular surgeon at the Methodist
DeBakey Heart Center, who performed
the surgery Wednesday on a 66 yearold
man. “The procedure involves
bypassing the clogged artery to create
a new route blood can take to feed the
patient’s legs.”
PAD is a buildup of plaque in the wall
of an artery that results in narrowing
or blocking of the artery, limiting blood
flow to the legs and causing anything
from severe leg pain to gangrene
and amputation. Severe cases are
commonly treated with surgical bypass
of the clogged vein, using either a
synthetic graft or another healthy vein
from the patient.
“Most vascular surgeons have been
frustrated by the inability of synthetic
grafts to perform as well as vein grafts
in lower-limb bypass,” Lumsden said.
“Close to a third of patients simply
don’t have the option of using one of
their own veins. These new grafts are
showing results that are remarkably
close to the success of using a
patient’s own vein for treatment.”
“Bonding an anti-coagulant to
the graft is a quantum leap ahead in
vascular surgery,” Lumsden said. “It’s
exciting and personally gratifying to see
this come to fruition in one of my own
patients, validating years of medical
research.”
Lumsden was involved in early
imaging studies of Heparinbonded
graft, which showed a
major improvement in the clinical
performance of grafts bonded with
Heparin over those that are bare. Trial
data has since confirmed that Heparinbonded
grafts perform competitively
with the success of bare grafts.
For more information regarding this article or to talk with an patient representative please use the following contact information:
Methodist International Services
6560 Fannin ST 220
Houston, Texas 77030
Telephone: (713) 441-2340
Fax: (713) 793-7097
Email: methodistinternational@tmh.tmc.edu
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