In December, Stentys announced completion of patient enrollment in DESSOLVE III. The 1,400-patient randomized clinical trial will compare the MiStent SES sirolimus eluting absorbable polymer coronary stent system to Abbott’s Xience stent.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the Western industrialized world, and according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), accounts for one of every 19 deaths in the United States each year. Over 80 percent of strokes are ischemic in nature, caused by clots and other obstructions in vessels that supply blood to the brain, and cardiac embolism accounts for approximately one-third of all cases of ischemic stroke. Echocardiography in general and transesophageal echocardiography in particular are essential for evaluation, diagnosis and management of stroke and systemic embolism. A new document, Guidelines for the Use of Echocardiography in the Evaluation of a Cardiac Source of Embolism, will appear in the January 2016 issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (JASE) and provides the first set of guidelines from the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) specific to this topic.

Corindus Vascular Robotics Inc. announced the launch of a CorPath robotic-assisted coronary intervention program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the installation of its first CorPath System.