January 5, 2009 - The University of California, San Diego Medical Center is the first hospital in California to enroll patients in a multi-center clinical trial, sponsored by Angioblast Systems Inc., to examine the safety and feasibility of administering adult stems cells to treat congestive heart failure.

January 5, 2009 - Arlington Medical Resources (AMR), a provider of market intelligence for the pharmaceutical and diagnostic imaging industries, reported that the number of micro-bubble echo contrast procedures performed in October 2008 have increased by more than 50 percent, to nearly 18,000 procedures, when compared to May 2008.

Micro-bubble echo contrast procedures began declining sharply in October 2007, from nearly 55,000 procedures in September 2007, as a result of a black box warning issued by the FDA in October 2007.

January 2, 2009 - The Society of Chest Pain Centers designated Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital yesterday as a Cycle III Chest Pain Center - the highest accreditation possible for treatment of chest pain - making it the first hospital in Texas and one of a handful in the world to receive such a designation.

January 2, 2009 - Jennifer Mieres, M.D., associate professor of medicine and director of nuclear cardiology (ASNC) at New York University, assumes the presidency of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology today with a call to physicians, scientists, and technologists to emphasize patient outcomes and restore patient trust in the world of cardiovascular imaging.