Thoracic aortic endovascular repair (TEVAR) is a minimally invasive approach suitable for many aortic lesions that would otherwise require risky and highly specialized open surgery. It is now routinely employed to treat lesions of the descending aorta like aneurysm and dissection, yet for the many patients with proximal aortic lesions – and the smaller pool of those who have thoracoabdominal lesions – the technique remains experimental. As with endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) of the abdominal aorta, the Big Three companies are Medtronic PLC, Cook Medical Inc./Cook Group Inc. and WL Gore & Associates Inc., all of which are working to push TEVAR’s frontiers up and down the thorax.
Though dwarfed by the abdominal EVAR market – estimated at $1.5 billion plus globally – the TEVAR market is substantial....