Prof. Matteo Tozzi (Varese, Italy) spoke to Vascular News about his extensive experience with drug-coated balloons (DCBs) in vascular access, particularly the Aperto® OTW DCB by Cardionovum®.

Having used over 600 DCBs in the past decade, Tozzi emphasized the superior efficacy of Aperto® OTW compared to plain balloon angioplasty (POBA).

To address the lack of economic data, he has initiated an analysis to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of DCBs in treating vascular access failure: based on the findings of his study named Aperto 600, Tozzi advocates for DCBs to be considered a “first-line treatment” for stenosis and vascular access failure in haemodialysis patients.

Dr. Testa (Milan, Italy) discusses the results of the XLIMIT Trial with Radcliffe at the EuroPCR 2024 congress in Paris, France.

In this video interview, Dr. Testa explains the technology behind the XLIMUS® drug-eluting stent (Cardionovum®) and its benefits. He also reviews the XLIMIT Trial, detailing the study design, selection criteria, and clinical outcomes.

Specifically, the 6 to 9 months follow-up results showed that the XLIMUS® DES was comparable to the Synergy™ DES on both primary endpoints (in-stent neointimal percent volume obstruction and in-stent neointimal volume). No difference was also found with respect to the secondary OCT endpoints as well as for clinical endpoints.

The study results confirm that the biological interaction of the XLIMUS® and Synergy™ DES with the coronary artery is comparable, and that translates in very reassuring OCT parameters at follow-up: as such, the XLIMUS® DES is non-inferior to the Synergy™ DES.