Drug-eluting balloons (DEBs) have been one of the long-awaited new transcatheter technologies to help reduce high restenosis rates in peripheral artery disease (PAD). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared C. R. Bard’s Lutonix 035 DEB in November 2014 and Medtronic’s In.Pact Admiral DEB in January 2015. Both are indicated for use in the superficial femoral and popliteal arteries in the upper leg.

iRhythm Technologies Inc. announced the study, “Cost Analysis and Clinical Outcomes of Ambulatory Care Monitoring in Medicare Patients,” was published in the Journal of Health Economics and Outcomes Research. The study assessed the costs incurred in the diagnosis, additional monitoring and following clinical events after the initial use of the Holter monitor among Medicare patients with arrhythmia.

Cardiac imaging accounts for about one-third of the source of X-ray radiation dose for all medical imaging. Expanding use of computed tomography (CT) for cardiac evaluations, use of nuclear imaging for myocardial perfusion exams and more complex transcatheter procedures in the cath lab have all increased patient exposure in recent years.