March 31, 2017 — Northwestern Memorial Hospital is now home to the Chicago area's first combined magnetic resonance (MRI ...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it has initiated a Class I recall of the Merit Prelude Short Sheath Introducer, warning that a manufacturing defect may cause the tip to separate from the sheath during the separation procedure. The agency said that if this occurs, the tip could enter the patient’s bloodstream. This may result in prolonged procedure times, additional surgery to remove the tip from the patient, blood clots, internal tears and perforation to arteries or veins, excessive bleeding and death.

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) and Bayer announced an alliance to establish the United States' first-ever statewide radiation dose management repository for patients undergoing certain radiological procedures. The repository will use Bayer’s Radimetrics, a radiation and contrast dose management and analytics tool which provides clinicians with data needed for them to help ensure their patients receive the lowest radiation dosage necessary. The goal is for clinicians to be able to share the data in order to benchmark radiation exposure.

Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are associated with increased survival of sudden cardiac arrest when installed in schools, yet only 17 out of 50 U.S. states require AED installation in at least some of their schools, according to a new analysis. The analysis was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Injection of a novel form of synthetic high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), or good cholesterol, into the arteries of recent heart attack patients did not reduce the volume of plaque in the arteries compared with placebo injections, according to new research. The findings were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 66th Annual Scientific Sessions, March 17-19 in Washington, D.C.

When used as a preventive measure during heart surgery, the heart failure drug levosimendan did not significantly reduce rates of death, heart attack, kidney dialysis or use of a mechanical assist device among patients at high risk for low cardiac output syndrome. These findings were part of a study presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 66th Annual Scientific Session, March 17-19 in Washington, D.C.