SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silk Road Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: SILK), a company focused on reducing the risk of stroke and its devastating impact, today announced positive results from a comparative-effectiveness study have been published in JAMA Network Open.

The study found the availability of TCAR at a hospital was associated with a significant decrease in the likelihood of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), a composite of in-hospital stroke, myocardial infarction, or death at 30 days after carotid revascularization, whether TCAR or carotid endarterectomy (CEA).

“Our results demonstrate that VQI centers who offer TCAR achieve lower rates of adverse events after carotid surgery when compared to centers who do not offer the new procedure,” said Jesse Columbo, MD MS, a vascular surgeon at Dartmouth and lead author of the study. “We believe this indicates that centers that offer TCAR are able to better align patients with the best procedure for their individual clinical and anatomic characteristics.”

Read More: ​https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/02/25/2182933/0/en/Study-Published-in-JAMA-Finds-Hospital-Availability-of-TCAR-Associated-with-an-Improvement-in-Overall-Outcomes-for-Carotid-Revascularization.html

​Centers adding transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) to their treatment options had improved perioperative outcomes for patients with carotid artery stenosis, according to the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) registry.

Major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE) rates -- counting in-hospital stroke, MI, and death at 30 days -- were similar between patients undergoing TCAR and those getting surgical carotid endarterectomy (CEA; 2.3% vs 2.4%, P=0.91), reported a group led by Jesse Columbo, MD, MS, of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

​Despite such similar results, VQI centers had 10% less MACE in their overall carotid revascularization programs in the year after adopting TCAR than if they had stuck with the surgical option alone (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.81-0.99), according to a difference-in-difference analysis by Columbo's group, published online in JAMA Open Network.

"This finding suggests that this new technology may have allowed proceduralists to select patients for whom TCAR may be superior to CEA, while still performing CEA on patients for whom that procedure was appropriate," study authors said.

"Overall, while observational in nature, these data imply that both TCAR and CEA may be reasonable treatment choices for patients undergoing carotid revascularization and providers may be able to choose the modality they feel best aligns with the patient's clinical presentation and anatomy," they concluded.

Read More: ​https://www.medpagetoday.com/cardiology/pci/91312

New technology to combat strokes is being used right here in the Central Valley. One local doctor performed a new type of carotid artery procedure to help his patient reduce the risk of surgical complications.

It’s been more than six months since David Wolrath went under to remove plaque from one of his carotid arteries.

Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon, Dr. Kamell Eckroth-Bernard explains, carotid arteries are major blood vessels that allow blood flow to the brain. He said, “You have two one on each side for each hemisphere of your brain. As it comes up here to the mid portion of your neck, about we call it a biforcation, it’s basically a split. That’s where the carotid arteries splits into the external carotid artery which goes to your face.”
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According to Silk Road Medical, the Bay Area engineers of TCAR, the minimally-invasive procedure is designed to give the surgeon more options when treating carotid artery disease.

“The system that they have set up for TCAR is a flow reversal system which is really an open surgical principle and by causing flow reversal in the brain on that side for a short period of time it’s usually very well tolerated by patients. And this allows us to balloon very aggressively in the areas that are narrow and also place our stent all while allowing flow reversal to happen and protecting the brain at the same time,” commented Dr. Bernard.

Read More: htts://www.yourcentralvalley.com/med-watch-today/medwatch-today-learn-about-tcar-procedure-helping-to-prevent-strokes/