Neurovascular

Business Definition

Boston Scientific’s Neurovascular business is a leading developer of medical technologies used to treat brain aneurysms and other types of cerebrovascular disease.

Background

There are many types of cerebrovascular disease, stroke being the most common, which accounts for more than 150,000 deaths in the U.S. each year. Stroke is the third-leading cause of death nationwide, and the largest single cause of adult disability. Acute ischemic stroke, which is caused by the interruption or blockage of blood flow to the brain, accounts for 83 percent of all stroke cases annually. The remaining stroke cases are hemorrhagic (caused by the rupture of a blood vessel and characterized by bleeding within or surrounding the brain). Hemorrhagic stroke is often caused by the rupture of an intracranial aneurysm, which is an abnormal bulging of the wall of a blood vessel that forms when the vessel is weakened or damaged.

For most intracranial aneurysms, less-invasive treatment is preferable to conventional surgery, because it can significantly reduce recovery time and subjects certain patients to lower risk of death or disability at one year than conventional surgery. In less-invasive procedures, medical devices are usually inserted into the body through a small incision or natural opening and can be guided to most areas of the anatomy to diagnose and treat a wide range of medical conditions.

In less-invasive treatment of intracranial aneurysms (endovascular treatment), catheters, microcatheters, and guidewires are directed through the patient’s vascular system to access the aneurysm. Once the aneurysm has been accessed, detachable coils are used to occlude (fill) the aneurysm. Boston Scientific pioneered the development of coiling products for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.

Fast Facts

• Boston Scientific’s Neurovascular group is the world’s leading supplier of products for neurovascular intervention.
• Boston Scientific’s Guglielmi Detachable Coil (GDC®) pioneered the field of endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms. Continued product development and engineering innovation eventually led to the development of the Matrix® Detachable Coil — the world’s first coil with a bioabsorbable component.
• Worldwide, nearly 2,000 physicians have been trained in the less-invasive, endovascular technique. Since 1991, these physicians have selected GDC and Matrix coils to treat more than 150,000 patients — employing more than 750,000 GDC and Matrix coils.
• Boston Scientific also developed the first stent specifically designed for intracranial use — the Neuroform® Microdelivery Stent. The Neuroform stent provides for endovascular treatment of many wide-neck aneurysms that were previously considered untreatable. To date, over 2,000 patients have been treated with Neuroform Stents.
• The Tracker® Infusion Catheter was the first variable-stiffness microcatheter to access the small vessels of the brain. Constantly innovating, Boston Scientific now offers the broadest portfolio of microcatheters and guidewires designed for neurovascular access — with more than 100 devices produced at annual volumes exceeding 200,000 units.
• Boston Scientific committed $1.25 million (USD) in educational fellowship grants in 2001. These grants are being used to establish five new educational fellowships per year in the fields of endovascular neurosurgery and interventional neuroradiology.

Looking to the Future

Boston Scientific is committed to advancing the practice of less-invasive medicine. Today, the Company is investigating a number of innovative technologies to address the ischemic stroke patient population. These technologies are focused on adjunctive therapies to broaden the treatment window for acute stroke patients, clot management devices that will disrupt and remove clots, which starve the brain of needed oxygen, plaque management leveraging Boston Scientific’s broad array of balloon and stent technologies, and post stroke rehabilitation devices and therapies.

Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific (NYSE: BSX) is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices with approximately 25,000 employees and revenue of $8.3 billion in 2007. For more than 25 years, Boston Scientific has advanced the practice of less-invasive medicine by providing a broad and deep portfolio of innovative products, technologies and services across a wide range of medical specialties. The Company’s products help physicians and other medical professionals improve their patients’ quality of life by providing alternatives to surgery that minimize risk, cost, trauma, aftercare and procedure time. For more information, please visit www.bostonscientific.com.