Abbott completes enrolment in ‘groundbreaking study’

Abbott Vascular has announced that it has completed enrolment in a “groundbreaking” study aimed to increase the understanding of vulnerable plaque.

Called Providing Regional Observations to Study Predictors of Events in the Coronary Tree (Prospect), the research uses new intravascular imaging technology in order to determine plaque characteristics, the risk to patients and biomarker measurements. This paves the ways for doctors to identify at-risk-patients before a heart attack occurs.

Vulnerable plaque is a coronary plaque which can rupture suddenly and hence lead to heart attacks. The study in question involved 700 patients suffering from acute coronary syndrome in Europe and the US, with progress followed up for the next five years.

Gregg W Stone, professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Centre and chief investigator of Prospect, commented: “As the first prospective natural history study examining whether novel blood and imaging tests are able to identify patients at risk for future death and heart attack, Prospect promises to provide groundbreaking data critical to understanding the progression of coronary artery disease, and represents the first step toward identifying patients at high risk who may benefit from preventative therapies.”

He added that the completion of Prospect comes as a “major milestone” for the vulnerable plaque programme, which Abbott is a known specialist in.

Abbott states that the majority of heart attacks are caused by the sudden of vulnerable plaque, which is a lipid-rich substance, as it lies hidden under a fibrous cap on artery walls. This causes blood to clot on the plaque, which can suddenly block up the artery.

The company recently announced that it had enrolled the first patient in clinical trials for Xience. The drug is used for the treatment of coronary artery disease and uses a Multi-Link Vision coronary stent platform.

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