December 10, 2008 - New research has found that the availability of a portable eight-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner in an emergency room can significantly increase the number of stroke victims who receive a potentially life-saving treatment, according to results of a study conducted at North Shore Medical Center (NSMC)-Salem Hospital in Salem, MA, and presented at the annual meeting of the

December 10, 2008 - Nearly nine in 10 hospital executives believe the current economic crisis will impact their facilities more heavily than the downturn of 2001-2002, according to a survey released yesterday by CSC titled, “Treatment Plan: Hospitals Respond to the Economic Crisis.”

The impact is already being felt and 55 percent of hospitals have seen cuts in revenue from Medicaid payments and many are beginning to prepare for increases in uncompensated care.

December 10, 2008 – ev3 today said it received FDA 510(k) clearance from the FDA to market its EverCross 0.035-inch and NanoCross 0.014-inch peripheral angioplasty balloon catheters.

December 9, 2008 – St. John’s Health Center and Cheetah Medical Inc. announced the health center was designated a Center of Excellence for the new Reliant Hemodynamic Monitoring System, which in addition to other vital parameters, monitors how much blood the heart pumps with each heartbeat.

Clinical studies demonstrated that having this information available, and using it with other inputs to guide treatment, can help to prevent or decrease the incidence and risk of complications from a number of leading health conditions through improved patient management.

December 9, 2008 - PLC Systems Inc. said recently it has received full approval from the FDA for its U.S. pivotal trial to study the effectiveness of the its RenalGuard System and associated therapy in the prevention of Contrast-Induced Nephropathy (CIN).

The FDA also approved PLC's request to expand their investigation from the 246 patients conditionally approved earlier this year to 406 patients and eliminate the requirement for an interim study analysis to be performed. As a result of this and other changes, the study is no longer considered an adaptive study.