St Jude Medical publishes Respect trial results

St Jude Medical has published its Respect trial results in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The global medical device company's eight-year study revealed that with regard to reduction in the risk of recurrent stroke in prespecified per-protocol and as-treated, patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure is superior to medical therapy alone.

It was demonstrated that it is more effective to use the Amplatzer PFO Occluder than antiplatelet medications or warfarin in terms of recurrent cryptogenic stroke prevention in patients with the common heart defect patent PFO.

Those who took part in the study were shown to have a 51 to 73 per cent risk reduction in recurrent strokes when assessed across prespecified measures.

Frank Callaghan, president of the St Jude Medical Cardiovascular and Ablation Technologies Division, said the findings provide evidence of the PFO closure with Amplatzer PFO Occluder's superiority to medical management regarding both clinical and statistical perspectives.

Mr Callaghan noted the outcome of the study "demonstrates the compelling clinical benefits of closure versus medical management in reducing the likelihood of recurrent stroke in this patient population".