Cardiologists failed to identify more than half of basic and about 35 percent of advanced pre-recorded murmurs, according to research presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2015. Skills did improve, however, after a 90-minute training session.

August 31, 2015 — Mitralign Inc. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an investigational device exemption (IDE) so the company can conduct an early feasibility study to examine its Percutaneous Tricuspid Valve Annuloplasty System (PTVAS). The SCOUT Study will take place in select centers in the United States.

August 28, 2015 — PinnacleHealth CardioVascular Institute enrolled the first patient in Pennsylvania and second in the United States in a trial assessing the safety and effectiveness of a new type of stent for blockages in the femoral artery. The new stent allows for greater flexibility within the artery and potentially less risk for stent fracture or re-narrowing after the stent is placed.

August 28, 2015 — BioControl Medical said it has completed enrollment in its INOVATE-HF (INcrease Of VAgal TonE in Heart Failure) clinical trial evaluating the CardioFit system for the treatment of congestive heart failure (HF). INOVATE-HF has enrolled a total of 725 patients at 86 centers in the United States and Europe, making it the largest prospective, randomized device study to evaluate the treatment of HF with vagus nerve stimulation.

In the midst of a growing trend for Medicare patients to receive observation care in the hospital to determine if they should be formally admitted, a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania shows that for more than a quarter of beneficiaries with multiple observation stays, the cumulative out-of-pocket costs of these visits exceeds the deductible they would have owed for an inpatient hospital admission.