Boston Scientific Corporation announced it has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its TAXUS(®) Liberte(®) Long Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System, a next-generation drug-eluting stent (DES) designed for long lesions.
Mark Turco, M.D., FACC, FSCAI, Director of the Center for Cardiac & Vascular Research at Washington Adventist Hospital, Takoma Park, Maryland said, The TAXUS Liberte Long Stent offers physicians and patients distinct advantages compared to using two overlapping drug-eluting stents. In the ATLAS Long Lesion Trial, the 38 mm TAXUS Liberte Stent significantly reduced myocardial infarction when compared to the TAXUS(®) Express(®) Stent, making the TAXUS Liberte Long Stent an attractive option for interventional cardiologists faced with long, challenging lesions.
The TAXUS ATLAS Long Lesion Trial reported a significant 79 percent reduction in the rate of nine-month myocardial infarction for the TAXUS Liberte Long Stent as compared to the TAXUS Express Stent control (1.3% vs. 6.3%, p=0.026). At two years, the composite measure of cardiac death or myocardial infarction showed a significant 63 percent reduction for the TAXUS Liberte Long Stent compared to the TAXUS Express Stent (3.5% vs. 9.4%, p=0.0426). The rate of stent thrombosis at two years was zero percent for the TAXUS Liberte Long Stent and 0.8 percent for the TAXUS Express Stent(2).