St Jude Medical study shows benefits of FFR for NSTEMI patients

St Jude Medical has announced results from a new study showing the benefits of its Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) technology among a new patient category.

Entitled FAMOUS-NSTEMI, the multi-centre clinical trial demonstrated that FFR technology was able to change the course of treatment for more than one-fifth of patients suffering non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) heart attacks.

Moreover, FFR-guided percutaneous coronary intervention was shown to be safe and tended to reduce procedure-related myocardial infarctions in NSTEMI patients compared to angiography alone.

FFR technology allows physicians to more accurately assess the severity of blood flow blockages in coronary arteries and determine which lesions require treatment.

Dr Mark Carlson, chief medical officer at St Jude Medical, said: "The clinicians leading the FAMOUS-NSTEMI study have now confirmed that a new group of patients can benefit from FFR."

This comes after the firm bolstered its operational capabilities last month with the finalisation of its takeover of interventional pain management therapy manufacturer NeuroTherm.