There are two types of peripheral blood vessels — peripheral arteries, which carry oxygen-rich blood to the extremities, and peripheral veins which carry oxygen-poor blood from the extremities back to the heart. The deep veins near the center of the leg do most of the work of the venous system. Approximately 85% of the circulating blood is returned to the heart through these veins. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is the formation of a blood clot in a large vein, most typically in the lower extremities. Possis is working with physicians to explore the use of the AngioJet System to aggressively treat DVT, one of the most common peripheral vascular disorders. If untreated, DVT can block the blood supply to the legs and cause tissue death or gangrene that requires the amputation of all or part of the leg.

It can also result in death because of the potential for blood clots to break off, travel through the heart and get trapped in the lung causing a pulmonary embolism, a potentially fatal complication in which the blood clot can block oxygen supply, causing heart failure. In the U.S. alone, more than 600,000 new cases of DVT are diagnosed each year, and one in every 100 patients who develop DVT dies due to pulmonary embolism. Possis is committed to helping improve the quality of life for patients with debilitating DVT and pulmonary embolism, the number one killer of patients with DVT.