While risk for sudden death is increased four- to six-fold in patients who have experienced myocardial infarction, it remains challenging to identify the specific patients who will benefit from the standard-of-care therapy, namely, implantation of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

March 19, 2012 - Biomedical Systems, a global provider of cardiac diagnostic services and products, has introduced the TruVue Wireless Ambulatory ECG Monitoring System for the diagnosis and management of atrial fibrillation and other complex cardiac arrhythmia. TruVue's diagnostic benefits include the ability to record and wirelessly transmit every heartbeat for up to 30 days, perform
advanced arrhythmia analysis and to provide immediate online access to all transmitted ECG.


Transcatheter heart valves are viewed as the poster children devices representing the latest in cutting-edge cardiac therapy technology. For this reason, it is not surprising nearly all the readers’ nominations for DAIC’s “Most Innovative Heart Centers” included hospitals that created minimally invasive structural heart programs using the Edwards Sapien aortic valve and the Medtronic Melody pulmonary valve.
Implementation of these programs usually involves the creation of a hybrid operating room (OR) and close collaboration of numerous specialists using a team approach to evaluate patients and determine the best course of treatment. Various therapy approaches are used, which can all be performed in the hybrid OR in a single surgical session.

March 16, 2012 -- Kensey Nash Corp. today announced that the company has entered into a $39 million settlement agreement with St. Jude Medical, which resolves all disputes between the two companies relating to the Angio-Seal vascular closure device licenses. As part of the settlement agreement, the companies also agreed to extend their collagen supply agreement through 2017 and expand the minimums to be provided over the contract term to 5 million units.


We are at an inflection point with many aspects of medicine, not the least of which concerns choosing the correct tool to discover and manage coronary artery disease.  The American landscape of clinical and imaging service providers is going through a major reshuffle. Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) is growing in utilization, taking its place as an established modality with AHA, ACC and ACR society-derived appropriate use standards. However, this growth in CT utilization and the resultant growth in per capita radiation exposure have elevated a public debate about the risk of causing cancer versus the value of its information.

April 15, 2012, will mark the 10th anniversary of the approval of the first drug-eluting stent (DES). Ten years ago, the mood surrounding the new anti-restinotic silver bullet stent was one of jubilance. The approval of the new drug-eluting stent completely revolutionized coronary stenting. Ten years later, the first company to win approval for a DES, ironically, has become one of the first to leave the product behind.

Hospitals that have built multimillion-dollar, specialized cardiovascular hybrid operating rooms (ORs) are hoping to make a return on investment (ROI) by attracting more referrals with the latest technology. However, many hospitals with hybrid rooms say it takes more than new, cutting-edge technology to be successful — the real secret is collaboration of several specialties to decide what is best for the patient.

March 16, 2012 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the premarket approval (PMA) application for the Covidien EverFlex self-expanding peripheral stent system.

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