GALWAY, Ireland – December 19, 2018 – Vetex™ Medical Ltd. announced that the first patient has been treated in the VETEX (Venous Thrombus Extraction) Study, a first-in-man, multicenter study of the Vetex™ Thrombectomy Catheter. The Vetex device is the first DVT device to combine rotational and grasping action to quickly and gently remove large volumes of stubborn wall-adherent clot in a single session, without use of thrombolytic drugs. The first patient was treated by the study’s principal investigator Stephen Black, MD, Narayan Thulasidasan, MD, and their team at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, in a study that includes notable DVT treatment experts Michael Lichtenberg, MD, FESC, of Klinikum Hochsauerland GmbH in Arnsberg, Germany, and Gerry O’Sullivan, MD, University Hospital Galway, Ireland.
“The Vetex device was surprisingly effective at removing wall-adherent clot on the first pass and was easy to use in our first procedure. Existing devices can remove fresh thrombus but have difficulty creating a larger lumen through more organized material on the vessel wall,” said Dr. Black. “This device shows the potential to start and finish the procedure in one cath lab session, avoiding ICU/HDU time and a prolonged hospital stay, and thereby saving staff time and hospital costs.”
The multicenter, non-randomized VETEX Trial is a feasibility study of 30 patients with acute iliofemoral DVT treated with the Vetex device, with the primary outcome being procedural success, defined as SIR Grade II Lysis with freedom from procedural related adverse events.