Sorin Group announced the results of the DREAM clinical trial. In this study, the sleep apnea monitoring (SAM) algorithm of Sorin Reply 200 pacemakers was validated against polysomnography, the gold standard method used to measure the severity of sleep apnea (SA). Initial data show that Reply 200 with the new SAM algorithm provides reliable screening for the risk of severe SA[1].

June 25, 2013 — Zoll Medical Corp. announced that a paper published in Critical Care Medicine reported the likelihood of achieving a return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) after sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is 62 percent greater when the AutoPulse noninvasive cardiac support pump is used to deliver CPR chest compressions.

AliveCor Inc.’s Heart Monitor for iPhone 4, 4S and 5 is now available for purchase in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is the first CE-marked mobile device–based electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor that is used to record, display, store and transfer single-channel ECG rhythms. It is available to medical professionals, patients and health-conscious individuals at Amazon.co.uk.

Final six and 12-month results of the DIRECT first-in-man clinical study were presented by study principal investigator Dr. Mark Webster at the late-breaking clinical trials session of the EuroPCR meeting in Paris, France. No patients experienced clinically-driven TLR, TVR or MACE at six months, with results sustained through 12 months. It is believed the Svelte drug-eluting stent is the first ever to achieve 0 percent clinically-driven MACE through 12-months in a independent core-lab and DSMB adjudicated clinical study.

Cardiovascular Systems Inc. (CSI) announced that the first patient has been enrolled in its post-market clinical study, LIBERTY 360°. The study is evaluating the acute and long-term clinical and economic outcomes of CSI’s orbital atherectomy system in treating peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Additionally, LIBERTY 360° is the first study of its kind to compare orbital atherectomy to all other PAD treatment options in a difficult-to-treat patient population. Cezar Staniloae, NYU Medical Center / New York Cardiovascular Associates, N.Y., the study’s principal investigator, performed the first procedure.

June 19, 2013 — Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the world’s most prevalent and silent killers. Positron emission tomography (PET), which images miniscule abnormalities in cellular metabolism, can tip off clinicians about cardiac disasters waiting to happen — including sudden death from a heart attack — better than standard angiography, researchers revealed at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging’s 2013 Annual Meeting.