July 31, 2008 – A survey of cardiovascular catheterization laboratories in the U.S. found obese patients who weigh more than the cath lab’s equipment limits are referred to other facilities at 22 percent of those surveyed, but 70 percent could not answer the question.

The telephone survey results were published this week in the Aug. 1 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

July 31, 2008 - Abiomed Inc. said it recently signed a long-term lease for a manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland to produce the Impella 2.5 Cardiac Assist Device, which should be in operational in about 18 months.

Abiomed’s Impella 2.5 capacity expansion is intended to meet anticipated long-term demand for the device and augment capacity from the company’s Aachen, Germany facility. In June 2008, Abiomed said it received FDA 510(k) clearance for the Impella 2.5.

July 31, 2008 - Medtronic Inc. said today it initiated the first investigational sites in the U.S. to participate in PROTECT, the company’s global study comparing the Endeavor and Cypher drug-eluting stents on key safety metrics, including stent thrombosis.

Dr. Carlos Mego and his patient care team at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, TX, enrolled the first U.S. patient in PROTECT last week.

July 30, 2008 - The American Venous Forum’s National Venous Screening Program (NVSP), having finished its second year (November 2006 to the beginning of 2007), reported an increase in participation from 17 to 83 medical centers and 476 to 2,234 individuals screened for blood clots in 40 states.

July 30, 2008 - ImaCor today said it received FDA 510(k) clearance to market the ClariTEE miniaturized transesophageal echocardiography probe and the Zura ultrasound imaging system.

The ClariTEE probe facilitates episodic monitoring of cardiac function. It is a single use device that can remain indwelling for up to 72 hours, allowing intensivists and anesthesiologists to periodically assess cardiac preload and left ventricular systolic function over a prolonged period of time.

July 30, 2008 - Researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Center have designed equipment to provide high resolution images of the heart at peak stress level - a critical stage of testing - that have previously been difficult to obtain using standard testing procedures.

Now superior images of the heart are obtained with a test lasting less than one hour.

July 30, 2008 - Having completed clinical trials of its ThromboGuide (T-Guide) Platelet aggregation system, ThromboVision Inc. has filed a 510(k) market clearance review application with the FDA.

July 29, 2008 - The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) recently published new evidence-based clinical guidelines for physicians that for the first time suggest the use of pharmacomechanical thrombolysis for acute iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in conjunction with anticoagulation drug therapy.

The new guidelines appear in the July supplement to the CHEST journal.

July 29, 2008 - For several years, doctors have known that certain stem cells migrate to the heart after a heart attack, but exactly how they get there and what purpose they serve remained uncertain.

July 29, 2008 - The Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS) recently named Physio-Control’s LIFENET STEMI Management Solution, a combination of Web, broadband and medical technology, that reduces time to treatment for heart attack patients as one of its “Hot Products for 2008.”

Subscribe to
© Copyright Wainscot Media. All Rights Reserved.
Subscribe Now