First Removable Nonvascular Metallic Stent

The stent has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union.

Because traditional metallic stents are not removable, the use of metal stents to treat patients with benign disease has been permitted only as a last resort, when all other treatment options have failed. Since this new stent can be removed, doctors can use it to apply temporary and minimally invasive treatments for patients with benign lumenal strictures. Many of the complications associated with permanent implants are virtually eliminated, states the developer, Alveolus, Inc. (Charlotte, NC, USA).

"This is great news for every interventional pulmonologist, as it gives us a viable alternative treatment for benign airway diseases,” said Dr. Armin Ernst, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, MA, USA). "This gives me the opportunity to place stents in selected patients where I currently would hesitate due to the lack of removability with the existing metal stent technology.”




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