ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Recanalization is one of the greatest unmet needs in chronic venous disease. VeinWay finally has an effective and purpose-built solution.
Interventional radiologists and vascular surgeons who work in venous disease are the handy “MacGyvers” of the clinical world. When faced with the problem of recanalizing a tough, fibrous venous occlusion—the first step to advancing a guidewire for stent delivery or any other venous therapeutic intervention—they’ll resort to septal puncture devices, and wires and catheters adapted for other purposes. Despite their ingenuity, they’ll toil, sometimes, for four to six hours without success.
What needs to be understood up front is that venous occlusions are as unlike coronary blockages as can be. Jordan Pollack, CEO and co-founder (along with Chief Technology Officer Ben Friesem) of VeinWay (Or Yehuda, Israel) explains that arterial clots comprise mostly fat cells, which then form a hard cap. “Because of that hard cap, physicians can drill through arterial occlusions, or, because there is a thick artery wall lined with smooth muscle cells, they can go around it.” Arterial occlusions are composed of foam cells and calcium, and the wall remains distinct.
