Coated Coil Treats Brain Aneurysms

A new repair technology for treating high-risk or inoperable intracranial aneurysms uses a coated coil to enhance the formation of the clot and seal the aneurysm.

The coil is made of platinum and covered with an absorbable copolymer, polyglycolic-polylactic acid (PGLA), which is typically absorbed by the body within 90 days. A lubricious coating on the surface of the outer copolymer coil facilitates coil deployment and retraction. Called Matrix, the coated coil was developed by a research team at the University of California, Los Angeles (USA) and is manufactured by Boston Scientific (MA, USA).

Matrix coils provide better stabilization of the aneurysms and promote faster healing of the lesion, said doctors at the Montreal Neurologic Institute and Hospital (MNI/H) of McGill University (Canada; www.mni.mcgill.ca), where they are using the Matrix coils to treat patients with brain aneurysms.

"This improvement in coil technology, a bioactive coated coil, occludes the aneurysm and promotes a faster and better organized clot, preventing the re-opening,” said Dr. Donatella Tamperi, director of diagnostic and interventional neuroradiology at the MNI/H.





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