Thoratec Corp. issued a voluntary Urgent Medical Device Correction Letter to all hospitals who have patients supported with the HeartMate II LVAS reminding them to monitor the expiration date of the backup battery contained within the HeartMate II "Pocket" System Controller, as specified in the product Instructions for Use. This backup battery has a 36-month expiration date. If allowed to expire, an advisory alarm, indicated by a yellow wrench symbol, is triggered. This alarm occurs at 12:00 a.m. on the first day of the month in which the backup battery expires.

SPRINT, blood pressure management, UAB, save lives

September 16, 2015 — Initial results of a landmark clinical trial found patients randomized to a systolic blood pressure goal of 120 mm Hg saw their risk of various cardiovascular conditions and death from cardiovascular causes reduced by almost one-third. Overall risk of death was also lowered by one-quarter compared to those randomized to the usual goal of 140 mm Hg.  
The Mortara Eli 280 is part of a new generation of ECG systems that integrate touchscreen monitors to improve workflow. Mortara, ELI 280, TouchScreen ECG, ECG advances, new ECG technology
The MAC 2000 is GE Healthcare's latest resting ECG system, which offers new integration options to improve interoperability and transfer of waveform data. ECG, ECG advances, new ECG technology, MAC 2000
Mortara's Wirless Acquisition Model (WAM) enables ECGs to be recorded without the need to tether the patient to the monitoring system. ECG, ECG advances, new ECG technology

The resting electrocardiogram (ECG) has been used as a basic cardiac diagnostic for a century, and while the premise remains the same, testing systems are evolving to meet today’s technology demands. This includes increased mobility, ease of use, streamlined workflow and interoperability so data can easily be interfaced with electronic medical records. 

A novel radiopharmaceutical probe developed at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has the potential of providing physicians with information that could save the lives of patients with ischemic stroke or pulmonary embolism. Both conditions are caused when important blood vessels are blocked by a clot that has traveled from another part of the body. In a report that will appear in the October issue of the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology and has been published online, the MGH team describes using this new probe to conduct full-body scans in an animal model. Preliminary results also were reported earlier this year at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society.

AstraZeneca announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Brilinta (ticagrelor) tablets at a new 60mg dose to be used in patients with a history of heart attack beyond the first year. With this expanded indication, Brilinta is now approved to reduce the rate of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or a history of MI.

Michigan hospitals participating in the American College of Cardiology’s “See You in 7” program demonstrated important reductions in 30-day readmission rates for Medicare heart failure patients compared to non-participating hospitals.

coramaze technologies GmbH, a German medical device company, announced the closing of a EUR 4.5 million (US$ 5.15 million) series A financing round for the mitramaze valve repair system. The device is a novel concept for transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) intended for treatment of inoperable patients suffering from severe functional mitral regurgitation (fMR).

The Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute (TCAI) at St. David's Medical Center recently became the first facility in the United States to use the EpiAccess system to access the pericardial cavity of the heart during an epicardial ablation.

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