From: Deb Song [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: June 07, 2011 12:50
To: Undisclosed recipients:
Subject: Rush News Release: New Device Offers Revolutionary Treatment for
Difficult-to-Treat Brain Aneurysms
cid:image001.gif@01CB914F.E4772AD0
News Release
Contact: Deb Song
312-942-0588
[log in to unmask]
June 7, 2011
New Device Offers Revolutionary Treatment for Difficult-to-Treat Brain
Aneurysms
Rush University Medical Center is Only Site in Illinois Using Newly
FDA-Approved Technology
(CHICAGO) - Physicians at Rush University Medical Center are offering a new
and effective treatment to patients suffering from complex brain aneurysms.
The recently FDA-approved technology called the Pipeline Embolization Device
(PED gives doctors the ability for the very first time to treat some of the
most complex and dangerous brain aneurysms using minimally invasive
techniques. The treatment is focused on reconstruction or remodeling of the
weak blood vessel harboring the brain aneurysm.
"The Pipeline Device may offer improved patient results with a safe and
effective treatment of large or giant, wide-necked aneurysms, which until
now has been an unmet clinical need," said Dr. Demetrius Lopes,
neuroendovascular surgeon at Rush University Medical Center. "We are able
to help people who did not have a better option and would otherwise die
without treatment."
Rush is the only hospital in Illinois and one of only seven medical centers
in the U.S. with the ability to offer treatment with PED and was one of only
a handful of centers in the U.S. that participated in the initial FDA
clinical trials.
The premarket approval of PED is based on the results of the PUFS (Pipeline
for Uncoilable or Failed Aneurysms) clinical study, a single-arm study of
large and giant, wide-neck or fusiform aneurysms that included safety and
efficacy data on 108 patients. Rush was the only Illinois site involved in
the PUFS trial.
It is estimated that one in 50 Americans have a brain aneurysm, an abnormal
ballooning of a portion of an artery in the brain due to a weakened blood
vessel wall.
"Treatment for aneurysms can be tricky, especially when they are large or
giant, wide-necked aneurysms," said Lopes, who is an assistant professor of
neurological surgery at Rush University.
Large aneurysms, which are more than 10 mm in diameter and giant aneurysms,
which are more than 25 mm in diameter are especially problematic. If left
untreated, they can result in compression of the brain and surrounding
structures, bleed and cause ischemic strokes.
Previously, doctors would try filling an aneurysm with platinum coils to
block blood flow into the aneurysm and prevent rupture. However, coiling,
while effective for small aneurysms, would not always work for large or
giant aneurysms. The other option is to open up the skull, and use a clip to
clamp off blood flow to the aneurysm if it is in a location where it can
reached through open brain surgery. This type of major surgery requires
four to six weeks of recuperation.
The PED is a new class of embolization device designed to divert blood flow
away from the aneurysm. It is composed of multiple, fine, individual
strands of platinum and cobalt chromium which are braided into a flexible,
mesh tube. The device is threaded up through a catheter placed in a blood
vessel in the leg up to the brain. Once the device is implanted across the
neck of an aneurysm, the PED essentially rebuilds the diseased brain artery
by rerouting blood flow away from the aneurysm and along the course of the
normal, reconstructed blood vessel.
"This novel technology is the only durable endovascular treatment for large
and giant brain aneurysms," said Lopes. "It provides a better chance of
relief of brain compression, long-lasting aneurysm occlusion and low
complication rates."
"Because reconstruction with PED is a minimally invasive procedure where an
artery in the leg is accessed through a tiny incision, it is possible for
patients to undergo treatment and leave the hospital the very next day,"
said Lopes.
The thinness of the device also allows for telescoping or endovascular
bypass, a technique where multiple PEDs are placed within each other with
less risk of narrowing the artery while creating a new and stronger blood
vessel.
###
Rush is a not-for-profit academic medical center comprising Rush University
Medical Center, Rush University, Rush Oak Park Hospital and Rush Health.
Rush is currently constructing a 14-floor, 806,000-square-foot hospital
building near the corner of Ashland Avenue and the Eisenhower Expressway.
The new hospital, scheduled to open in 2012, is the centerpiece of a
ten-year campus redevelopment plan called the Rush Transformation, which
also includes completion of a new orthopedics building, a new parking garage
and central power plant, renovations of selected existing buildings and
demolition of obsolete buildings. The new hospital is designed and built to
conserve energy and water, reduce waste and use sustainable building
materials. Rush is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It will be
the first full-service, "green" hospital in Chicago.
Rush's mission is to provide the best possible care for its patients.
Educating tomorrow's health care professional, researching new and more
advanced treatment options, transforming its facilities and investing in new
technologies-all are undertaken with the drive to improve patient care now,
and for the future.
Deborah Song
Associate Director, Media Relations
Rush University Medical Center
1700 W. Van Buren, Suite 456
Chicago, IL 60612
Office: 312-942-0588
Pager: 312-942-6000, enter PIN 5104
Mobile: 773-383-9814
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Follow me:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RushUniversityMedicalCenter
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RushMedical
RushNewsBlog: http://rushnews.rush.edu/
-----------------------
To change your mail settings or leave the C-PALSY list, go here:
http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?SUBED1=c-palsy
|
