Over Half a Million Varicose Vein Patients Treated with VNUS Closure Procedure Worldwide

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VNUS(R) Medical Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: VNUS), a worldwide leader in medical devices for the minimally invasive treatment of venous reflux disease, the underlying cause of varicose veins, announced today that as of this week, it estimates the number of patients treated with the VNUS Closure radiofrequency vein ablation system has surpassed 500,000 worldwide. Thousands of physicians across the Americas, Europe and Asia have embraced the VNUS ClosureFAST(TM) catheter and ClosureRFS(TM) device as a highly effective minimally invasive medical technology for treating diseased leg veins and restoring healthy circulation to varicose vein patients.

VNUS solutions have also achieved widespread acceptance among medical insurers, with all major US health insurance insurers covering radiofrequency vein ablation for patients with symptomatic varicose veins and venous reflux. In addition, the VNUS procedure is available in 40 countries and is covered by the national health insurance systems in the UK and France.

'Achieving the physician, patient and insurer acceptance that has led to 500,000 patients treated with our VNUS Closure procedure is a tremendous milestone both for our company and for the field of minimally invasive vein treatment,' said Brian E. Farley, VNUS' first employee in 1995 and President and CEO. 'Although this accomplishment is notable, we expect that in the future our Closure products will ultimately help millions of patients suffering from venous reflux. We also believe that our success emanates from a strong commitment to product quality supported by clinical and comparative effectiveness trials of our products.