Aptus reports successful treatment with EndoStapling System in Europe

Aug 9 2010

Aptus Endosystems Inc., a medical device company developing advanced technology for endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), announced that several patients with aortic aneurysm disease have been successfully treated with the Aptus EndoStapling System in Europe. The innovative helical staple technology enables independent endograft fixation, and is designed to approximate suturing in an open surgical anastomosis. The company continues to build on its U.S. clinical experience which includes 176 patients and deployment of more than 900 EndoStaples.

“In unfriendly anatomy, I was able to staple a proximal cuff to repair a Type I endoleak of an endograft that had tilted.”

Of the procedures performed to date in Europe, the Aptus EndoStapling System was used for secondary interventions to repair previously implanted endografts as well as in de novo aortic aneurysm patients, where the surgeon(s) believed that long term patient outcomes would be improved with the addition of radial fixation of the endograft with the EndoStaple.

Jean-Paul P.M. de Vries, M.D., Ph.D., Head of Department of Vascular Surgery, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands performed the first case.

"With the introduction of the Aptus EndoStapling System, proximal fixation of an endograft will be significantly improved," said Dr. de Vries. "Its use has a strong potential to decrease the need for post-EVAR follow-up substantially."

Subsequent Aptus EndoStaple System cases were performed by: Prof. Eric Verhoeven, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Klinikum Nürnberg Süd, Nuremberg, Germany; Prof. Ralf Kolvenbach, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Vascular Surgery, Augusta Hospital, Dusseldorf, Germany; and Dr. Gaudencio Espinosa, Director of Vascular Surgery, University of Navarra Hospital, Pamplona, Spain.

"The EndoStapling System performed wonderfully," said Prof. Verhoeven. "In unfriendly anatomy, I was able to staple a proximal cuff to repair a Type I endoleak of an endograft that had tilted."

"Completing our first cases in Europe marks a significant milestone for Aptus Endosystems," commented Jeff Elkins, CEO of Aptus Endosystems, Inc. "This initial commercial experience supports the success that we saw with our EndoStapling System in the U.S. The novel concept of independent and physician controlled proximal fixation using the EndoStapling System is a considerable step toward preventing long term complications and making EVAR the definitive solution in treating aortic aneurysms."

SOURCE Aptus Endosystems Inc.,