WHAT ARE THE DEVICES THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING USED OFF-LABEL FOR EMBOLIC PROTECTION IN THE RENAL ARTERIES?
Dr. Dave: There are two design concepts for embolic protection devices: filters and balloon occlusion. Our current experience comprises five different devices, including the PercuSurge GuardWire, SpideRX (ev3, Plymouth, MN), TriActiv FX embolic protection system (Kensey Nash, Exton, PA), FilterWire EZ (Boston Scientific Corporation, Natick, MA), and the AngioGuard XP (Cordis Corporation, a Johnson & Johnson company, Miami, FL). Specifically, the TriActiv FX embolic protection system is a balloon occlusion device that uses CO2 as an inflation material. However, it is also associated with the flush and extraction system; perhaps using flush and extraction to remove all the debris from the renal artery may be more beneficial than just aspirating into the renal artery. There can be a potential distal embolization from flush extraction, but the debris that is likely to be present in the renal artery after intervention is usually not that large, and it would be unlikely to cause a major peri
