ST. PAUL, Minn., April 10 (UPI) -- St. Jude Medical said Monday it is OK'd to market the "world's thinnest lead" for implantable cardiac defibrillators.
The company said the Food and Drug Administration has approved its Riata ST lead, the compact size of which makes it easier to navigate through "difficult anatomy in cardiac patients" so the ICDs can be more precisely placed.
St. Jude said it would launch the newly approved ICD lead in the United States April 17.
"The Riata ST lead handles with the flexibility of a bradycardia lead while performing like an ICD lead," said G. Joseph Gallinghouse of Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia, a division of Texas Cardiovascular Consultants in Austin, who implanted the first lead. "The ultra-thin diameter makes it easier to handle and to precisely position at the desired cardiac site so that patients can receive appropriate ICD therapy," he said.
