Following repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), women appear to have more unfavorable outcomes than men in terms of mortality and morbidity.

This week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) convened a panel of the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) to examine which health outcomes in studies of heart failure treatment technologies should be of interest to CMS. The panel also assessed the growing challenges associated with the changing landscape of evidence generated prior to market authorizations of new and innovative technology. While MEDCAC panels do not make coverage determinations, CMS does benefit from their guidance.

Cardiovascular Systems Inc., in partnership with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), announced the first subject enrolled in its ECLIPSE clinical trial. The subject was treated by Richard Shlofmitz, M.D., interventional cardiologist and director of the Department of Cardiology at St. Francis Hospital, Roslyn, N.Y. Shlofmitz also treated subjects in CSI’s ORBIT II and COAST clinical studies.

The newest release of American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria covers 230 topics with more than 1,100 clinical indications.

https://www.dicardiology.com/content/new-protocol-henry-ford-hospital-dramatically-increases-heart-attack-survival-ratesThe influence of cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock on outcomes of patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has not been completely studied. Researchers at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF) conducted a study to determine the incidence, characteristics and outcomes of STEMI complicated by cardiac arrest with or without cardiogenic shock.

A new meta-analysis further supports the ability of RenalGuard Therapy to significantly reduce the incidence of acute kidney injury associated with cardiovascular interventional procedures compared to other methods of urine volume expansion. Moreover, findings from the analysis show the use of RenalGuard Therapy to be further associated with reduced risk of mortality, major adverse cardiovascular events and the need for post-procedure dialysis.

Tryton Medical Inc. recently announced that the first U.S. commercial case using the Tryton Side Branch Stent was completed at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. The device was used to treat a coronary bifurcation lesion involving a large side branch (appropriate for a ≥2.5mm stent) in a procedure performed by Martin Leon, M.D., director of the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy, and Ajay Kirtane, M.D., SM, director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory.