Cardium Therapeutics and its subsidiary InnerCool Therapies reported on preclinical data demonstrating a new and expanded benefit of early rapid cooling for the potential treatment of acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), as presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2006 Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The companies also announced their plans for a new clinical study to further assess the safety and potential usefulness of early cooling for heart attack patients, which is expected to be co-sponsored in Sweden and to begin within the next several months.

Early clinical results from Abbott's ongoing ABSORB clinical trial, the world's first study to evaluate the safety and performance of a fully bioabsorbable drug-eluting stent platform for the treatment of coronary artery disease in humans, were presented during the 18th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in Washington, D.C.

A stent designed to dissolve after it completes its task of propping open narrowed heart arteries is being tested by scientists.

The first human experiment with the dissolving stent is being conducted with 26 patients at hospitals in New Zealand and Europe, the Associated Press reported. The study is designed to test whether the stent is safe enough to be used in larger studies.

GlaxoSmithKline and Flamel Technologies announced FDA approval of once-a-day Coreg CR (carvedilol phosphate) extended-release capsules for the treatment of high blood pressure; a heart attack that has reduced how well the heart pumps (known medically as post-myocardial infarction left ventricular dysfunction); and mild to severe heart failure.

ev3 Inc. has announced a worldwide fracture-free guarantee in support of its new EverFlex family of stents. In the event that an EverFlex stent should fracture within two years of implantation, ev3 will provide a free replacement product to the medical facility, subject to the terms and conditions of the program.

The guarantee was announced today at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation's annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in Washington, D.C.

Boston Scientific Corporation announced that an independent meta-analysis of more than 3,500 patients from five clinical trials, conducted by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, confirmed the Company's own analysis that the TAXUS paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent is safe and effective. The new analysis was presented by Gregg W.

Radiofrequency ablation is more effective than treatment with amiodarone for the prevention of atrial flutter recurrence in patients who experienced a first symptomatic episode, according to the results of a new study. In addition to the superiority of ablation over amiodarone, there was no increased risk of atrial fibrillation, even in this cohort of older patients, report investigators.

Obesity and the illnesses associated with it cost the U.S. some 90.7 billion dollars a year in health care costs, a University of Pennsylvania researcher said.
Among developed countries, the U.S. has the most obese and overweight people, representing 66 percent of its overall population.

CoreValve announced that its patented ReValving System, consisting of a 18F delivery catheter, was used to percutaneously implant its proprietary porcine pericardial-tissue bioprosthesis over the severely calcified aortic heart valve of an 89-year-old woman.

A new program designed to provide hospitals with practical tools to help them reduce door-to-balloon times in STEMI patients is in the works, and experts who have collaborated on the project say they hope to launch it next month. Spearheaded in part by investigators who have worked on previous Guidelines Applied in Practice (GAP) studies or on door-to-balloon-time research and in part by the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the D2B: An Alliance for Quality initiative is still being finalized but has already prompted calls from hospitals and physicians hoping to sign up.

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