The Massachusetts General Hospital officially announced the launch of the Mass General Institute for Heart, Vascular and Stroke Care, one of the only institutes in the world to integrate cardiovascular and cerebrovascular care.

Colibri Heart Valve LLC has successfully completed the first clinical use of the company's proprietary transcatheter aortic heart valve. The Colibri transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) system is the world's first and only low profile, 14 French pre-mounted, pre-crimped, and pre-packaged, ready-for-use, TAVI system. These advantages are designed to reduce delivery profile along with a reduction in preparation and insertion time, which are not available in any other device, either currently available or in known development.

A research study of more than 600 black patients with uncontrolled hypertension found that less than half were prescribed a diuretic drug with proven benefit that costs just pennies a day, report researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York's (VNSNY) Center for Home Care Policy and Research. The researchers say these new findings should be taken as a serious wake-up call for physicians who treat black patients with hypertension.

CardioLogical Solutions, formed by the recent merger of Emboline and VasoStitch, has been issued an additional patent for its family of aortic embolic protection devices that are designed to prevent stroke and other ischemic complications.