The Femoral Artery Closure Roller Coaster

Market share charts for femoral artery closure devices looked like a roller coaster through Q3 2000, with each quarter producing a new market leader--Datascope, St. Jude Medical, and Perclose. Interventional cardiologists, whose views on device utilization levels and product lines varied, helped explain the market share movements, among other things noting the introduction of smaller, six French devices that led to the success of St. Jude, with Angio-seal and Duet. Most physicians agreed that while experimentation with different devices at this early stage of the market's development was leading to strong sales for all products, most hospitals will, over time, reduce redundancy in the product line and likely will end up carrying only two brands.