Pioneering Non-Invasive Vascular Technologies Since 1984
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Challenge conventions. You may end up saving a limb!

Previously, I posted a whole article about how it’s actually not dangerous to use compression therapy on an ischemic limb. However, that’s not the only misconception that we’ve cleared up at ACI Medical. This article exposes a couple more myths that have been known to float around, and how we’ve found evidence to set the record straight.

Even after some experts dismissed the idea of intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) as a viable treatment for patients with PAD, the creators and developers of the ArtAssist® device put their theories to the test nonetheless.

Pioneered and developed with vascular surgeons, the ArtAssist® device continues to be the leader in IPC therapy for non-surgical PAD patients with varying levels of severity.

ArtAssist® IPC therapy should not be overlooked or dismissed without having considered the clinical evidence:

in fact, it has both saved limbs and improved patient quality of life.

MYTH: Critically ischemic limbs are maximally vasodilated.

False.

In fact, the ArtAssist® device’s first physiological clinical trial disproves this myth. Even without having been optimized to the extent it is now, the prototype yielded results that suggested transient vasodilation.

Later, in 2005, a study conducted by Professor Labropoulos of SUNY not only confirms the earlier findings, but also suggests that increasing the arteriovenous pressure gradient with foot & calf IPC therapy contributes greatly to significantly increased blood flow in the subjects’ popliteal, gastrocnemial and collateral arteries. Skin blood flow also improved significantly in their findings.

MYTH: The ArtAssist® device is the same as any other arterial pump with similar function.

False.

We encourage you to ask yourself these two important questions when considering other devices which claim to perform as efficaciously as the ArtAssist® device:

1. Is it optimized for arterial disease? And

2. Is there clinical evidence and support for this specific device?

Only the ArtAssist® device satisfies each of these questions with its thorough progression of clinical studies: this device alone has been adjusted and optimized from its initial prototype over the past two decades to effectively treat even the most severe cases of PAD.

  • Physiological
  • Optimization
  • Intermittent Claudication
  • Limb Salvage
  • Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI)
  • Arteriogenesis (Collateralization)

Currently, studies are being conducted to explore the ArtAssist® device’s efficacy for adjunct therapies, such as stem cell treatment and gene expression.

The Bottom Line.

Your patient’s non-reconstructable limb will not wait for hearsay on this form of therapy.

We are here to let you know that therapy with the ArtAssist® device gives patients a dependable option that continues to help non-surgical limbs across the country.

Make the decision that could save your patient from amputation.

References

Augmentation of blood flow in limbs with occlusive arterial disease by intermittent calf compression. Van Bemmelen, P.S.; Mattos, M.A.; Faught, W.E.; Mansour, M.A.; Barkmeier, L.D.; Hodgson, K.J.; Ramsey, D.E.; and Sumner, D.S. Springfield, IL. Journal of Vascular Surgery 1994; 19:1052-8.

Hemodynamic effects of intermittent pneumatic compression in patients with critical limb ischemia. Labropoulos, N.; Leon, L.R.; Bhatti, A.; Melton, S.; Kang, S.S.; Mansour, A.M.; and Borge, M. The Department of Surgery, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL. Journal of Vascular Surgery, October 2005; Volume 42, Number 4: 710-716

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Building collateral arteries with ArtAssist® device compression therapy

Arteriogenesis:  the key to success

For patients who are surgical candidates, the solution to their arterial obstruction comes as quickly as a surgeon can work.

English: podiatric surgery

English: podiatric surgery (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However, this means that non-operable patients and their doctors are left to find alternative solutions to improving lower extremity circulation. Drugs and lifestyle changes may work as long as the regimen is maintained, but these may still present problems according to each patient’s case.

Patients who use the ArtAssist® device every day for at least 90 days have developed permanent collateral arteries as a result of therapy.

This solution may be ideal for doctors with patients who have otherwise run out of options. With proven efficacy and consistently high success rates, those with severe PAD get another chance to rebuild and strengthen the collateral arteries in their lower extremities.

The theory

When developers optimized the ArtAssist® device to maximize blood flow to the lower extremities, they realized that, even after having stopped therapy with the device, patients kept their improved circulation. “Why is this?” they asked.

After some educated guessing, Paul van Bemmelen, MD, PhD of Temple University began looking into the hypothesis more closely. This publication (Fig. 1) is the first to have documented a threatened limb before and after four months of ArtAssist® device therapy.

The Rabbit study

In 2007, Dr. van Bemmelen performed another study, this time with a rabbit model. He and his team were able to confirm that intermittent pneumatic compression on the experimental limbs increased the number of angiographical collateral arteries.

How it works

Arteriogenesis, the growth of collateral arteries, can be achieved with a regimen of intermittent pneumatic compression, as we’ve just seen. But what actually happens inside the vessels?

Rapid compression causes shear stress on the endothelial cells. These cells react by releasing nitric oxide (NO), which acts as a vasodilator, and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), which acts as an anticoagulant. These two substances ease the path of nutrient-rich blood through the collateral arteries.

Within a month, patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) typically begin to see a dramatic increase in arterial blood flow if they use the ArtAssist® device every day.

After about 90 days, the benefits can be visualized in an arteriogram, as seen above. After this point, a patient may be able to discontinue ArtAssist® device therapy.

Obtaining therapy

Both physicians and patients can contact ACI Medical for information and ordering:  toll free (888) 453-4356 or info@acimedical.com

More detailed information can be found at acimedical.com/artassist/order.

References

Angiographic Improvement After Rapid Intermittent Compression Treatment (ArtAssist®) for Small Vessel Obstruction
van Bemmelen, P.; Char, D.; Giron, F; and Ricotta, J.J. Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery, State University of New York and Stony Brook, NY, USA. Ann Vasc Surg 2003;17:224-228

Long-term Intermittent Compression Increases Arteriographic Collaterals in a Rabbit Model of Femoral Artery Occlusion 
van Bemmelen, P.S.; Choudry, R.G.; Salvatore, M.D.; Goldenberg, B.I.; and Blebea, J. Departments for Surgery, and Pathology, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA.
Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg 34, 340-346 (2007) 

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