Concentric Medical Announces Enrollment Milestone for Merc...(. Wade S. Smith MD PhD Professor...),Health

Wade S. Smith, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology at University of California San Francisco, said, "The Merci Registry is an invaluable tool that will provide physicians who treat stroke with important information on the benefits offered by mechanical intervention, as well as insight into how best to care for patients who suffer from this devastating disease. Data reflecting real-world experience complements data derived from clinical trials because it represents more closely how patients are being cared for in the community at large. Because we are still in the early phases of acute treatment of ischemic stroke, it will also serve as a platform for us to ask additional questions and may ultimately help shape the future of research and patient care."

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of serious long-term disability with close to 800,000 strokes expected to occur in 2009. Ischemic stroke represents over 85% of strokes and occurs when a blockage or clot develops in one of the arteries supplying blood to the brain. In 2004 the FDA cleared Concentric Medical's Merci Retrieval System for use in patients who are ineligible for IV-tPA or fail to respond to IV-tPA therapy. This new system offered physicians and patients a long-awaited option for stroke intervention and created a departure from the historic method of caring for stroke patients.

About Concentric Medical

Concentric Medical is located in Mountain View, California and is the global leader in the endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke. The company manufactures and markets the Merci Retrieval System(TM), a set of minimally invasive devices that are delivered into the brain to restore blood flow by removing blood clots that cause ischemic stroke. The Merci Retrieval System is available in over 300 leading stroke centers around the world, and has been the subject of two
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