Cook Medical reports positive three-year data for Zilver PTX

Cook Medical has reported data from a new clinical study that demonstrates the sustained benefits offered by the Zilver PTX paclitaxel-eluting stent.

Results from the randomized controlled trial, which assessed the performance of the stents for the treatment of femoropopliteal disease, showed that the devices offered 70.7 percent primary patency in the superficial femoral artery at 36 months.

This compared favourably to the 49.1 percent patency shown for patients with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty who received bare-metal stent placements.

Moreover, the paclitaxel coating was shown to reduce the restenosis rate by 53 percent in a head-to-head comparison with the bare-metal alternatives.

Rob Lyles, vice-president and global leader of Cook Medical's peripheral intervention clinical division, said: "These data from the largest clinical study ever conducted on peripheral stenting clearly show a sustained drug effect for paclitaxel-eluting stents versus bare metal stents after three years."

Earlier this month, the company opened a new distribution centre in Baesweiler, Germany, which will act as the company's delivery hub for all European countries.