August 29, 2011 — The Guidelines on Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) are the first document produced by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) to address all aspects of peripheral atherosclerotic disease, excepting the aorta. The document does include disease of extracranial carotid and vertebral, mesenteric, renal, upper and lower extremity arteries. It is the result of close collaboration between physicians from many different areas of expertise: cardiology, neurology, radiology, vascular surgery, and vascular medicine.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released its “Strategic Plan for Regulatory Science,” a sweeping initiative to modernize the tools and methods that the agency uses to evaluate whether the products it regulates are effective and safe for consumers.


August 25, 2011 – Transcatheter structural heart occluder maker Occlutech said this week it closed a 15 million Euro investment in the company to accelerate its device development and bring it to market. The European company develops medical implants to treat structural heart disease such as atrial septal defects and patent foramen ovale (ASD and PFO) and left atrial appendage (LAA) occluders.


August 25, 2011 – Two articles in the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR)'s flagship publication, the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology, report on studies related to peripheral arterial disease (PAD), coinciding with the approach of September's National PAD Awareness Month.

August 25, 2011 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released its list of pre-market approval (PMA) and 510(k) decisions for new or enhanced medical devices from June 2011. The list includes all FDA PMAs, product development protocols (PDP), supplement and notice decisions. This list is generated on a monthly basis.

August 25, 2011 – ­ The Munich biotech company apceth started its first Phase I/II clinical study on somatic cell therapy for advanced peripheral arterial occlusive disease (pAOD) after angioplasty. The aim is to investigate the tolerability and efficacy of somatic cell therapeutics developed by apceth for the treatment of pAOD. The study is designed as an open, randomized, monocenter study with two parallel patient groups and is being conducted in cooperation with the Isar-Medizinzentrum in Munich. The first patients have already been treated. A total of 30 patients are to be recruited into the study by March 2012. The initial results of the study are expected by mid-2012.


August 24, 2011 - The Joint Commission issued an alert today explaining ways to lower risks posed by ionizing radiation from imaging exams while maintaining diagnostic image quality. The Joint Commission said healthcare organizations can reduce risks due to avoidable diagnostic radiation by raising awareness among staff and patients of the increased risks associated with cumulative doses, by providing the right test and dose through effective processes and new technology.


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