REDWOOD CITY, CA / ACCESSWIRE / July 16, 2019 / Avinger, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVGR), a commercial-stage medical device company marketing the first and only intravascular image-guided, catheter-based system for diagnosis and treatment of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), today announced five podium presentations and a live case featuring the Company's Lumivascular technology at the annual CVC conference occurring last week.

Key opinion leaders in the fields of interventional cardiology and vascular surgery highlighted Avinger's Lumivascular technology, which includes the Pantheris family of image-guided atherectomy products and the Ocelot family of image-guided chronic total occlusion (CTO) crossing products, in the following sessions:

• Dr. Arne Schwindt, a vascular surgeon from St. Franziskus Hospital Münster in Germany presented data on patients treated with Pantheris prior to application of a drug-coated balloon, highlighting a 93% primary patency rate and 100% freedom from target lesion revascularization (TLR) at 12-months, in his session, "Atherectomy with Drug Delivery: What Does the Data Show on Safety and Patency"
• Dr. Samer Abbas, Dr. Dean Ferrera and Dr. David Stewart, interventional cardiologists, successfully treated a patient with complex PAD using Pantheris in a live case transmission from Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana
• Dr. Dwight Dishmon, an interventional cardiologist from Methodist South Hospital in Memphis, discussed the use of image-guided atherectomy for the treatment of in-stent restenosis and presented positive interim results from the first 36 patients enrolled in Avinger's INSIGHT clinical study in his session, "Atherectomy for ISR: How to Maximize Debulking and Minimize Risk"
• Dr. Dwight Dishmon also presented the benefits of intravascular image-guidance for the treatment of PAD and the results of the Avinger SCAN study in his session, "The Benefits of IVUS and OCT During Evaluation and Treatment of Infrapopliteal Disease"
• Dr. Jon George, an interventional cardiologist from Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, presented the data from the HI-PACT study examining the connection between vascular injury during an interventional procedure and subsequent repeat revascularization in his session, "Characterization of Atherectomy Samples from SFA CTOs: Lessons from the HI-PACT Study"
• Dr. Glen Schwartzberg, a vascular surgeon from Baton Rouge General in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, highlighted Pantheris in a podium presentation and also conducted a Pantheris demonstration session in the main exhibit hall

Commenting on the live case, Dr. Samer Abbas, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.S.C.A.I., of Community Healthcare System noted, "We put Pantheris to the test in a very complex clinical situation, including a severely calcified lesion in the popliteal artery, and the device performed extremely well. This technology is well-suited for most types of lesions, but especially for the area around the knee in which we typically would avoid using a stent. We were very pleased with the final result after treatment and the patient will benefit tremendously from this revascularization procedure. We were able to avoid the need for a stent and used the onboard image-guidance of Pantheris for safe and effective treatment of this lesion."

CVC encompasses a comprehensive educational agenda with two primary tracks around arterial and venous interventions for professionals in the endovascular field. Conference highlights include hands-on workshops, live cases from leading operators in endovascular medicine, case presentations, industry symposia, and an emerging leaders program.

Atherectomy is a minimally invasive treatment for PAD in which a catheter-based device is used to remove plaque from a blood vessel. Lumivascular technology allows physicians, for the first time ever, to see inside the artery during an atherectomy procedure by using an imaging modality called optical coherence tomography, or OCT, that is displayed on Avinger's proprietary Lightbox console. Physicians performing atherectomy with other devices must rely solely on X-ray images as well as tactile feedback to guide their interventions while treating complicated arterial disease. With the Lumivascular approach, physicians can more accurately navigate their devices and treat PAD lesions, thanks to the real-time OCT images generated from inside the artery, without exposing healthcare workers and patients to the negative effects of ionizing radiation.

About Avinger, Inc.

Avinger is a commercial-stage medical device company that designs and develops the first-ever image-guided, catheter-based system that diagnoses and treats patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). PAD is estimated to affect over 12 million people in the U.S. and over 200 million worldwide. Avinger is dedicated to radically changing the way vascular disease is treated through its Lumivascular platform, which currently consists of the Lightbox imaging console, the Ocelot family of chronic total occlusion (CTO) catheters, and the Pantheris® family of atherectomy devices. Avinger is based in Redwood City, California. For more information, please visit www.avinger.com.

Public Relations Contact:

Phil Preuss
VP of Marketing & Business Operations
Avinger, Inc.
(650) 241-7942
pr@avinger.com

Investor Contact:

Mark Weinswig
Chief Financial Officer
Avinger, Inc.
(650) 241-7916
ir@avinger.com

Matt Kreps
Darrow Associates Investor Relations
(214) 597-8200
mkreps@darrowir.com

SOURCE: Avinger, Inc.