Anastomosis Devices Aid Bypass Surgery

A new anastomosis device called the Aortic Connector allows surgeons to attach vein grafts to the aorta without sutures. The device has been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In bypass surgery, the suturing of the graft to the aorta and the coronary artery is usually the most difficult, time-consuming, and critical part of the procedure. The Aortic Connector is designed to make this connection in a quick and easy way. It is the first in a line of sutureless anastomosis devices, called the Symmetry Bypass System, developed by St. Jude Medical, Inc. (St. Paul, MN, USA). A second product in the line is the Coronary Connector, which connects the saphenous vein to the coronary artery, creating a rapid, high-quality and reproducible anastomosis. This connector is now in clinical evaluation.

"The connector technology is surgeon-friendly and will lead to significant changes in how coronary bypass surgery is conducted, as potentially important to cardiac surgery as the heart-lung machine in the 1950s,” said Robert Emery, M.D., of Cardiac Surgery Associates in Minneapolis (MN, USA).




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