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Medtronic's new abdominal stent graft approved

SANTA ROSA, April 16, 2008 – Medtronic Inc. received Food and Drug Administration approval for its new abdominal stent graft.

The Talent Abdominal Stent Graft on the CoilTrac Delivery System is unique in the marketplace, expanding patient access to minimally invasive treatment for abdominal aortic aneurysms by 20 percent, according to Medtronic spokesman Joe McGrath.

About 60,000 people in the U.S. are treated annually for the aneurysms, half of them eligible for endovascular repair – the implantation of the tiny coil, or stent, that mends ruptures in the aorta. Undetectable except by screening, the aneurysms are responsible for about 15,000 deaths a year in the U.S.

Abdominal stents currently on the market, made by Medtronic Vascular in Santa Rosa, Gore Medical Products, Cook Medical Devices and Endologics, need a "landing zone" in the aorta that won't block blood flow to the renal arteries.

"Till now you couldn't place a stent less than 15 millimeters below the renal arteries," said Mr. McGrath. "The Medtronic Talent device only needs a 10-millimeter landing zone. We estimate it'll make endovascular repair an option for 20 percent more AAA patients that can currently receive it."

Medtronic offers the broadest portfolio of endovascular stent grafts in the industry, including the AneuRxAAAdvantage and Talent stent-graft systems in the U.S. and the Talent Abdominal, Thoracic and Valiant Thoracic stent-graft systems outside the country.

Medtronic's cardiovascular unit, which includes operations in Galway, Ireland, and Boston, employs 1,200 in Santa Rosa.