The American College of Cardiology recently released new guidance for clinicians and hospitals to use in assessing patients’ eligibility for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), successfully performing the procedure and providing appropriate follow-up. The 2016 ACC Expert Consensus Decision Pathway for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in the Management of Adults with Aortic Stenosis builds on recommendations set forth in the American Heart Association (AHA)/ACC Guidelines for Management of Patients with Valvular Heart Disease.

In an article published in the January 2017 issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, researchers assert that exposure to medical radiation does not increase a person’s risk of getting cancer. The long-held belief that even low doses of radiation, such as those received in diagnostic imaging, increase cancer risk is based on an inaccurate, 70-year-old hypothesis, according to the authors.

A study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISSMS) investigators has linked, for the first time in humans, activity in a stress-sensitive structure within the brain to the risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease. The team's findings, being published in the journal The Lancet, also reveal a pathway leading from activation of that structure — the amygdala — through elevated immune system activity to an increased incidence of cardiovascular events.

NorthStar Medical Technologies LLC has received additional matching funds from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE/NNSA) for its accelerator method of producing the medical radioisotope molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). The addition brings the total funding for the new method, in development by subisidiary NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, to $11.1 million.

ECRI Institute announced a new mergers and acquisitions service that empowers new hospital alliances to control their spending and plan for the future by eliminating waste and redundancy in medical-surgical supplies and capital medical equipment.

Warfarin is a commonly prescribed blood thinner used to prevent harmful blood clots. However, the drug requires frequent monitoring, daily dosing and can result in serious negative effects when mixed with vitamin K, a vitamin commonly found in vegetables such as lettuce or broccoli. Now, a new study from University of Missouri Health Care has found that using electronic health records (EHR) can improve the care patients receive after they leave the hospital and eliminate potential confusion among care providers and pharmacists.

Medtronic plc announced the CE (Conformité Européenne) mark and European launch of the CoreValve Evolut R 34 mm valve — the largest sized transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) system available in Europe. The new Evolut R 34 mm valve is approved for severe aortic stenosis patients who are at intermediate, high or extreme risk for surgery with an annulus size ranging from 26-30 mm. This large valve segment is estimated to account for approximately 20-25 percent of the eligible European TAVI patient population. Previously, some of these patients were unable to receive a TAVI due to the larger size of their native diseased aortic valve.

Of patients over age 65 who received an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) after surviving sudden cardiac arrest or a near-fatal arrhythmia, almost 80 percent survived two years, according to a new study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. This is a higher rate than found in past trials performed to demonstrate the efficacy of the devices in this situation.

Lumedx Corp. recently announced that it has implemented Phase 1 of a long-term, multiphase cardiovascular information system (CVIS) project with Baylor Scott & White Health.

Investigators at the University of Utah have identified distinct differences in the hearts of advanced heart failure patients who have defied the odds and showed signs of recovery from the disease. Published online in the journal Circulation, the new findings could help clinicians identify the best candidates for cardiac recovery therapies.

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