(New Brunswick, NJ) – Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) is the first cardiovascular center of excellence in New Jersey to use an innovative drug-coated balloon angioplasty therapy for patients whose arteries have narrowed again following their initial treatment with drug eluting stents.
Tudor Vagaonescu, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Cardiology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Medical Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at RWJUH, recently used the AGENT™ Drug-Coated Balloon (DCB), a minimally invasive coronary angioplasty balloon catheter, to treat a 77-year-old patient whose artery had repeatedly narrowed again after several previous angioplasty treatments with drug-eluting stents.
The balloon is coated with an anti-restenotic drug (a drug that treats narrowed coronary arteries) and delivered via a proprietary coating technology. It is designed to open narrowed vessels and then transfer the drug to the vessel wall. The AGENT DCB makes it easier for cardiologists to deliver the drug to the part of the vessel that needs treatment. The goal of the coating technology is to control the drug delivery to treat coronary arterial lesions to produce the best outcomes for patients.
“In this patient’s particular case, medical literature indicated that this treatment gave her the best option for a successful outcome,” explained Dr. Vagaonescu, “This breakthrough therapy can provide new hope for patients who experience these recurrences following their initial treatment. It has the potential to reduce hospital readmissions and improve the quality of life for patients diagnosed with in-stent restenosis (narrowing of prior implanted stents).”
The AGENT DCB received FDA Breakthrough Device designation for the AGENT DCB for in-stent restenosis in 2021.
In the U.S., the AGENT DCB is an investigational device and is not available for sale. It is being studied in the AGENT IDE trial, the first clinical trial of a coronary drug-coated balloon (DCB) in the U.S. which will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a DCB in patients with coronary in-stent restenosis. This prospective, randomized study will compare in-stent restenosis treatment with the AGENT DCB to treatment with an uncoated balloon, commonly referred to as “plain old” balloon angioplasty (POBA). Its use in this case was approved by the FDA as compassionate use.
The AGENT DCB received CE Mark in Europe in 2014 for patients with ISR and previously untreated small vessel coronary disease.
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is a 600-bed academic medical center that serves as the principal teaching hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, orthopedics, bariatric surgery and women’s and children’s care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). A Level 1 Trauma Center and the first designated Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.
RWJUH has been named among the best places to work in health care by Modern Healthcare magazine and received the Equity Care of Award as Top Hospital for Healthcare Diversity and Inclusion from the American Hospital Association. RWJUH Brunswick has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety, including the prestigious Magnet® Award for Nursing Excellence and “Most Wired” designation by Hospitals and Health Networks Magazine. The American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer has rated RWJUH among the nation’s best comprehensive cancer centers. For more Information visit us online at www.rwjbh.org/newbrunswick
Contact:
Peter Haigney
RWJUH Public Relations
732-937-8568