Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Procyrion, a medical device company dedicated to improving outcomes for patients with cardiac and renal impairment, announced today successful treatment of the first patients in the A PRIORI (Aortix therapy for Perioperative ReductIon Of Renal Injury) pilot trial to evaluate the performance of its Aortix™ percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (pMCS) device in preventing acute kidney injury (AKI) during cardiac surgery, a common and serious complication that impacts approximately 30% of patients.
The Aortix pump is placed in the descending thoracic aorta via a percutaneous catheter procedure at the beginning of the scheduled surgical procedure to directly increase perfusion to the kidneys by reducing cardiac energy requirements. The pump is deployed in less than 15 minutes and the intra-aortic placement essentially eliminates risk of device-related thrombotic stroke or damage to the heart or valves. The innovative design harnesses fluid entrainment to directly increase renal artery flow and pressure and allows for physiologically natural delivery of therapy. The Aortix pump is intended to be left up to 48 hours post-surgery to maintain increased renal perfusion to provide additional protection against post-operative risk factors for AKI, as well as decrease the workload of the recovering heart.
Patient history can help identify with known risk factors for developing AKI and the Aortix pump has the potential to address major risk factors both during and after surgery by improving renal artery flow. The catheter-based pump was easy to deploy, operated in a location that did not interfere with the surgery, and greatly improved perfusion to the kidneys.
