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St. Jude Medical Ships 5 Millionth
Angio-Seal Vascular Closure Device


ST. PAUL, Minn., Jan 19, 2005 -- St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) announced today it has shipped its 5 millionth Angio-Seal™ vascular closure device, the market's leading vascular closure product. The Angio-Seal™ device is used to seal the femoral artery following a diagnostic or interventional catheterization procedure.

"St. Jude Medical's Angio-Seal™ device is now chosen by more physicians than any other vascular closure technology," said Paul R. Buckman, President of St. Jude Medical's Cardiology Division. "Many healthcare providers have concluded that the use of vascular closure devices has become an indispensable part of the catheterization procedure. The shipment of the 5 millionth Angio-Seal™ device signifies the market's overwhelming acceptance of this technology. It is truly becoming the standard of care for obtaining hemostasis."

Vascular closure devices have been available since 1996 and have rapidly changed how patients are managed post-catheterization. These changes have resulted in increased cath lab productivity, efficiencies and patient comfort. Prior to the introduction of vascular closure devices, patients would have to endure 15-20 minutes of manual pressure at the femoral artery access site to obtain hemostasis, followed by 4-12 hours of bed rest to ensure that hemostasis was maintained. Valuable hospital staff would also be required to monitor these patients during their bed rest.

The St. Jude Medical Angio-Seal™ device provides hemostasis at the end of the procedure before the patient leaves the cath lab. This allows patients to be more mobile and be discharged from the hospital sooner. When an Angio-Seal™ device is used following a diagnostic procedure, many patients are able to walk after only 20 minutes and leave the hospital one hour later. The use of the Angio-Seal™ device also provides benefits to the hospital and healthcare staff through increased patient flow, shorter recovery room times, reduced overtime charges and also enables nurses to care for other patients.

Dr. Robert Applegate, Director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, NC, has been a long-time user of the Angio-Seal device. "I have used the Angio-Seal™ device to close the arterial access site in my patients since it was first introduced for clinical use in this country," Dr. Applegate said. "Since its initial use, it has been overwhelmingly popular with patients. We have seen a significant decrease in personnel needed for access site management post- diagnostic and interventional catheterization. From the physician's perspective, the device has been the workhorse closure device in our lab because of its simplicity, efficiency, and effectiveness."

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (www.sjm.com) is dedicated to the design, manufacture and distribution of innovative medical devices of the highest quality, offering physicians, patients and payers unmatched clinical performance and demonstrated economic value.

St. Jude Medical, Inc.,
St. Paul Investor Relations:
Laura Merriam, 651-766-3029
or
Media Relations: Peter Gove, 651-481-7790

SOURCE: St. Jude Medical, Inc.

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