Covidien completes enrolment for iliac stent studies

Covidien has announced the completion of patient enrollment in its iliac stent clinical study series, comprising the international Visibility Iliac and Durability Iliac trials.

These studies are designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of using either balloon expandable or self-expanding stents to treat peripheral arterial disease in the common iliac and external iliac arteries and involve a total of 150 patients.

Half of these will be treated with the Visi-Pro balloon expandable stent system and the other half with either the EverFlex self-expanding stent or the Protege GPS self-expanding nitinol stent and delivery technology.

Research will take place across 23 centres in the US and Europe, with subjects set to be monitored for a total of three years.

Dr Mark Turco, chief medical officer for vascular therapies at Covidien, said: "We are very pleased to report the completion of enrolment in these two studies, as the results will add important clinical data around treatment for patients with PAD."

Earlier this month, the firm announced positive data from a two-year study of its Solitaire FR revascularisation device, showing its benefits in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke.