Abbott enrolls first patient in female Xience trial

US health care major Abbott Laboratories says that the first patient has been enrolled in its XIENCE V SPIRIT WOMEN clinical trial, the world's first clinical evaluation designed to assess safety and effectiveness of drug-eluting stent treatment in women.

The goal of the trial is to increase understanding of how heart disease affects women and to assess the performance of the Xience V Everolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System in women with previously untreated coronary artery lesions from Europe, Asia-Pacific, Canada and Latin America. The trial will focus on specific aspects of women's health in relation to coronary artery disease such as general awareness about the illness, symptoms at time of presentation, referral patterns, and hormonal menopausal status.

Each year, more women than men die of cardiovascular disease, and yet women receive only 33% of angioplasties, stents and bypass surgeries; 28% of implantable defibrillators; and 36% of open-heart surgeries, Abbott noted.