The Jonas Study: Evaluation of the Retrievability of the Cordis OptEase Inferior Vena Cava Filter Vincent L. Oliva, MD, Ferenc Szatmari, MD, Marie-France Giroux, MD, Bruce K. Flemming, MD, Sidney A. Cohen, MD, PhD, and Gilles Soulez, MD, MSc PURPOSE: To evaluate the success, safety, and efficacy of the retrieval of the OptEase Permanent/Retrievable Vena Cava Filter (Cordis, Warren, NJ), when implanted for temporary protection against venous thromboembolism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, multicenter, non-randomized study enrolled 27 patients who needed temporary protection against pulmonary embolism in whom the intent at the time of filter insertion was retrieval of the OptEase filter. Patients presented with deep venous thrombosis (n  17), pulmonary embolism (PE) (n  6), and high risk for PE without thromboembolic disease (n  4). Assessments included duplex sonography of the access site performed within 24 hours of device implantation and retrieval. All patients underwent cavography before and after filter placement and filter retrieval. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and clinical follow-up was performed at 1 month after device retrieval. RESULTS: Of the 27 enrolled patients, 21 patients (77.8%) met the criteria for retrieval and all 21 patients (100%) had filters successfully retrieved with no associated adverse events. Retrieval was not attempted in six patients as a result of ongoing contraindication to anticoagulation (n  3), large trapped thrombi within the filter (n  2), and poor patient prognosis (n  1). Time to retrieval ranged from 5 to 14 days with a mean implantation time of 11.1 days  1.82. No symptomatic pulmonary embolism, vena cava wall injury, vena cava stenosis, significant bleeding, filter fracture, or filter migration was observed. Nineteen of the 21 patients (90.5%) were followed for 1-month post-retrieval with no device-related adverse events or symptomatic PE. Caval patency was documented in 18 of these 19 patients with CT. Two patients were lost to follow-up, and one patient refused to undergo CT examination. CONCLUSION: The OptEase permanent/retrievable vena cava filter can be safely and successfully retrieved up to 14 days in patients who no longer require inferior vena cava filter protection against pulmonary embolism. J Vasc Interv Radiol 2005; 16:1439–1445 Abbreviations: IVC = inferior vena cava, PE = pulmonary embolism, DVT = deep venous thrombosis PERCUTANEOUS inferior vena cava (IVC) filter insertion is a well-estab- lished method for preventing life- threatening pulmonary embolism (PE) caused by lower extremity deep ve- nous thrombosis (DVT). Indications for IVC filter implantation include con- traindication to or complication of anti- coagulation therapy in the presence of venous thromboembolic disease, or re- current pulmonary embolism despite anticoagulation. Prophylactic filter placement may be considered for pa- tients with major trauma and pro- longed immobilization, or for protec- tion of patients with DVT with floating thrombus (1). Concerns regarding the long-term safety of IVC filters have resulted in the suggestion to adhere to strict indi- cations for their placement, especially in patients with a long life expectancy (2,3). These concerns have been docu- mented in a randomized study where an increased rate of recurrent DVT in patients with permanent IVC filters From the Department of Radiology (V.L.O., M.F.G., G.S.), Centre Hospitalier de l’Universite ´ de Mon- tre ´al, Montreal, Canada; Department of Radiology (F.S.), Csolnoky Ferenc County Hospital of Vesz- prem, Veszprem, Hungary; Department of Radiol- ogy (B.K.F), Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Cen- ter, Halifax, Canada; Cordis Corporation (S.A.C.), Miami, Florida. Received February 11, 2005; revision requested March 10; final revision received April 26; accepted April 29. Address correspondence to V.L.O., Department of Radiology, Centre Hospi- talier de l’Universite ´ de Montre ´al, 1560 Sherbrooke East, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2L 4M1; E-mail: voliva@sympatico.ca Presented at the 2004 SIR Annual Meeting. Spon- sored by Cordis Corporation, Warren, NJ, a sub- sidiary of Johnson & Johnson.V.L.O., F.S., and B.K.F. received financial support to conduct this study. S.A.C. is an employee of Cordis Corpora- tion. © SIR, 2005 DOI: 10.1097/01.RVI.0000171699.57957.C7 1439