The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new medical device for removing blood clots from blocked heart arteries or bypass grafts prior to angioplasty. The device will provide an alternative treatment to so-called clot-busting drugs, and will be particularly useful for patients in whom these drugs cannot be used.

The device: the AngioJet System manufactured by Possis Medical: is a coronary catheter system that shoots a jet of saline solution back into the tip of the catheter to suck out blood clots. Treatment with this device takes about one minute. Once the blood clot is removed the patient can then undergo angioplasty, a procedure intended to remove the arterial blockage.

The AngioJet System was previously approved to treat blood clots in dialysis grafts.

Reference: FDA Talk Paper T99-13, dated 15 March 1999.