Embolic protection: the FilterWire EZ™ Embolic Protection System

The field of interventional cardiology has grown dramatically over the past 30 years, including recent advances in the area of peripheral vascular intervention. The phenomenon of no-reflow, characterized by a reduction in coronary blood flow during vascular intervention, has been associated with adverse outcomes in both saphenous vein graft and carotid artery interventions. Distal embolic protection devices, such as the FilterWire EZ™ System, have been shown to reduce the incidence of no-reflow and adverse cardiac events in patients undergoing saphenous vein graft interventions. Recently approved indications for the FilterWire EZ System include carotid artery stenting. With the definite reduction in adverse events from the use of distal protection, future advancements will focus on improved deliverability of such devices.