DePuy Synthes Spine receives FDA clearance to market VEPTR/VETPR II Devices for TIS treatment

DePuy Synthes Spine today announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the VEPTR^®/VEPTR II™ Vertical Expandable Prosthetic Titanium Rib Devices for the treatment of Thoracic Insufficiency Syndrome (TIS), a rare congenital condition where severe deformities of the chest, spine or ribs impair breathing and lung growth in children. DePuy Synthes Spine is a part of the DePuy Synthes Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

The devices were previously only available under Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) regulations, which controlled access to this device. The new 510(k) clearance will improve access to the treatment which has been available since 2004. VEPTR/VEPTR II Devices are the first spine devices to have such a change in regulatory status.

“The 510(k) clearance is a great advancement, enabling the VEPTR/VETPR II Devices to now be used at the discretion of the surgeon for spine and chest wall deformities associated with TIS,” said Robert M. Campbell, Jr., MD, Director of the Center for Thoracic Insufficiency Syndrome at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia^® (CHOP), an inventor of VEPTR/VEPTR II Devices and the first to identify TIS as a disease condition that requires specialized care and treatment. “This will likely increase the availability of the VEPTR Technology for many institutions.”

VEPTR/VEPTR II Devices include a system of curved titanium rods that are surgically attached to the ribs, spine or pelvis to stabilize and straighten the spine, and to create a separation between ribs to potentially improve breathing and enable normal lung growth and development. After an initial procedure, VEPTR/VEPTR II Devices are lengthened as a child grows using minimally invasive techniques.

Potential benefits of treatment with the VEPTR/VEPTR II Devices include more normal growth patterns without spinal growth limitations, decreased deformity of the spine, more room for the lungs to grow, increased amount of daily activities because of the increased amount of space for air in the lungs and a decreased need for using ventilators. Treatment results with any surgical procedure can vary from child to child.

“We are pleased with the FDA’s clearance and the resulting change in regulatory status of the VEPTR/VEPTR II Devices so that more children may benefit from treatment for TIS, a condition where few treatment options exist,” said Max Reinhardt, President, DePuy Synthes Spine. “The device fills a critical need and offers hope for a brighter future for many children.”

The VEPTR/VEPTR II Devices are indicated for skeletally immature patients with severe, progressive spinal deformities and/or three dimensional deformity of the thorax associated with or at risk of TIS. TIS is defined as the inability of the thorax to support normal respiration or lung growth. This would include patients with progressive congenital, neuromuscular, idiopathic, or syndromic scoliosis.