ARTICLE SUMMARY:
The current generation of thrombectomy systems for pulmonary embolisms make trade-offs between a large bore size for maximum clot capture with the disadvantage of collateral damage along the way, or easily navigable small bore catheters that often require multiple passes at the clot. Endovascular Engineering wants to avoid such compromises with it’s next-gen PE thrombectomy device.
It hasn’t been long since Inari Medical commercialized the first mechanical thrombectomy device purposefully built for treating venous disease, and specifically, pulmonary embolism (PE), a dire situation in which blood clots block the pulmonary arteries. Inari received FDA clearance for its FlowTriever system in 2018.
Inari, now part of Stryker by way of an acquisition valued at $4.9 billion, and Penumbra, with the Indigo Aspiration System for PE that gained FDA clearance in 2020, have, in the ensuing years, firmly established thrombectomy as an effective and potentially safer and more predictable treatment for intermediate- and high-risk PE than thrombolytic drugs. Solidifying the role of the devices in patients with intermediate-risk PE, Inari’s landmark randomized controlled trial PEERLESS, presented at the TCT conference in late 2024, pitted mechanical thrombectomy against catheter-directed thrombolytic drugs. Thrombectomy won; patients thus treated exhibited less clinical deterioration, used fewer intensive care services, enjoyed a greater rate of early recovery at 24 hours, spent less time in the hospital, and experienced a lower 30-day readmission rate.
