Statement from Penumbra, Inc. Regarding American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Guidelines for the Early Management of Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke

Penumbra, Inc., a global interventional therapies company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical devices, including those used in endovascular stroke therapy, issued the following statement from Adam Elsesser, chairman and chief executive officer, regarding the new American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) focused update published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke regarding the treatment of patients with acute ischemic stroke.

We are pleased that the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association updated their acute ischemic stroke treatment guidelines to support the endovascular treatment of stroke patients. This is another step forward for those patients who can benefit from mechanical thrombectomy as shown by the landmark MR CLEAN study and subsequent confirmatory trials that support endovascular treatment over medical management alone.

The Standards and Guidelines recently issued by the Society for Neuro Interventional Surgery (SNIS) broadly support the use of mechanical thrombectomy devices to treat eligible stroke patients.1 Today’s AHA/ASA guidelines indicate a preference for stent retrievers over the first generation MERCI device and state that the use of other mechanical thrombectomy devices may be reasonable. Given the complexity of treating stroke, we are pleased that the AHA/ASA guidelines give the physician performing the procedure the flexibility to choose the mechanical thrombectomy device that is the most appropriate in the circumstances.

Penumbra is excited for the field and is committed to continue to innovate to further improve the treatment of stroke patients.

About Penumbra

Penumbra, Inc. (www.penumbrainc.com) is a global interventional therapies company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical devices. We have a broad portfolio of products that addresses challenging medical conditions and significant clinical need across two major markets, neuro and peripheral vascular. We have over 850 employees. We sell our products to hospitals primarily through our direct sales organization in the United States, most of Europe, Canada and Australia, and through distributors in select international markets.

1 Jayaraman MV, et al. Embolectomy for stroke with emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO): report of the Standards and Guidelines Committee of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery. J NeuroIntervent Surg 2015;0:1–6. doi:10.1136/neurintsurg-2015-011717

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