Piedmont Atlanta Hospital treats first patients in the Southeast in PIANO Trial for brain aneurysms

Atlanta, Ga. (July 20, 2026) – Piedmont Atlanta Hospital has successfully treated the first patients in the Southeast in the PIANO IDE Trial. The study is testing two devices used to help treat brain aneurysms.

Piedmont is the third site in the United States to join the PIANO Trial and the first in the Southeast to perform these procedures. The first two cases were led by Michael F. Stiefel, MD, PhD, Medical Director of the Piedmont system’s Stroke Program and Director of Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery and the Comprehensive Stroke Center.

Other Piedmont doctors working on the trial include A. Jesse Schuette, MD, and David I. Bass, MD, PhD.

“These devices have been used in more than 20,000 patients around the world,” Dr. Stiefel said. “Studies outside the United States have shown strong results and low complication rates.”

Doctors already use flow-diverting devices to treat brain aneurysms, but choices in the United States are limited. The p48 and p64 MW HPC devices are already used in other countries.

“We are glad to study a new device that may give doctors another way to treat brain aneurysms,” Dr. Stiefel said. “Our goal is to keep giving patients safe, research-based care.”

Both patients did well during and after their procedures and went home the next day.

The p48 and p64 MW HPC devices are still being studied in the United States and can be used only for research under federal law.