Two similar devices that help doctors retrieve blood clots and avoid potential disability among stroke victims have been approved for new uses by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The Trevo devices were first cleared in 2012 to help people who could not be given the clot-busting drug t-PA. The devices, when fully expanded to up to six millimeters in diameter, allow doctors to grip a blood clot inside a vessel and remove it via catheter or sheath, the FDA said in a news release.

The new approval expands the devices’ use to include a broader group of patients, the agency said.

Stroke kills some 130,000 people in the United States annually, making it the 5th-leading cause of death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Potential risks of the devices include failure to retrieve a clot, device breakage and blood vessel damage.

The devices are manufactured by Concentric Medical, based in Mountain View, Calif.

More information

The FDA has more about this approval.

Source: HealthDay