Open Heart Surgery News and Research

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New FDA-approved heart pump for high-risk patients

Cardiologists at the University of Illinois Medical Center are using a new heart pump that can be inserted without the need for surgery and allows them to treat high-risk patients with a procedure to unblock their heart arteries.

4 Nov 2009

NeoChord commences patient enrollment in its TACT European clinical trial

NeoChord, Inc., a venture-backed, Minneapolis-based medical technology company, announced today that it has enrolled the first patient in its European clinical trial. The trial, known as TACT (transapical artificial chordae tendineae) is being conducted in Germany, Denmark, Czech Republic and Norway.

28 Oct 2009

Medtronic reports outcome of its Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve trial

Clinical trial results published in this week’s Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) describe six-month outcomes for patients using the Melody® Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve from Medtronic, Inc.. The valve is implanted through a catheter procedure instead of open-heart surgery in patients with congenital heart disease affecting the function of their pulmonary valve.

28 Oct 2009

PolyMedix completes second successful clinical study of PMX-60056

PolyMedix, Inc. (http://polymedix.com), an emerging biotechnology company developing new therapeutic drug products to treat infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, has completed a second successful clinical study of its anticoagulant reversing agent, PMX-60056.

27 Oct 2009

OrSense presents data on its NBM-200MP system for hemoglobin and blood oximetry measurements

OrSense Ltd., developer of monitors for non-invasive measurements of various blood parameters, presented today at the American Association of Anesthesiologists (ASA) annual meeting, in New Orleans. The results from a multi-center study indicate that NBM-200MP, a continuous, non-invasive monitoring system, measures levels of oxygen saturation and hemoglobin accurately and reliably in comparison to accepted methods.

20 Oct 2009

Cardiac experts study a new procedure to treat leaky heart valves

Cardiac experts at Rush University Medical Center are studying a new, minimally invasive procedure to treat leaky heart valves. Instead of open heart surgery, patients will undergo a less complex catheter-based procedure to treat mitral regurgitation, a serious heart disorder where blood leaks backwards toward the lungs with each heart beat.

1 Oct 2009

Stereotaxis showcases its remote magnetic navigation technology at TCT symposium

Stereotaxis, Inc. is showcasing the value of its technologies for interventional procedures at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) symposium in San Francisco this week.

24 Sep 2009

Medtronic's transcatheter valves to be presented at TCT 2009

With the promise of percutaneous treatments for patients with diseased heart valves growing, Medtronic, Inc., announced today that more presentations than ever before – at least 25 – on the company’s portfolio of unique transcatheter valves will be presented at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2009, the world’s premier annual meeting for interventional cardiologists.

23 Sep 2009

AFib ablated using visually-guided laser balloon catheter

Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York became the first in the U.S. to ablate atrial fibrillation using a visually-guided laser balloon catheter.

21 Sep 2009

The first successful implantation of the GDS Accucinch System for mitral valve repair

Guided Delivery Systems, Inc. ("GDS") announced the first successful percutaneous implantation of the GDS Accucinch(R) System for mitral valve repair. The procedure was performed by Prof. Dr. med. Joachim Schofer of Medizinisches Versorgungszentrum, Hamburg University Cardiovascular Center in Hamburg, Germany. The GDS Accucinch System significantly reduced the patient's mitral regurgitation without requiring open heart surgery.

16 Sep 2009

Abbott to acquire Evalve for $410 million

Abbott announced today a definitive agreement to acquire the outstanding equity of Evalve, Inc., the global leader in the development of devices for minimally invasive repair of cardiac mitral valves.

10 Sep 2009

REPEL-CV approved for cardiac surgeries

SyntheMed, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SYMD), a biomaterials company engaged in the development and commercialization of anti-adhesion products, announced today that REPEL-CV, the company's bioresorbable adhesion barrier film for the reduction of adhesions following cardiac surgery, has received approval from the Brazilian Ministry of Health for use in all patients who undergo open-heart surgery.

10 Sep 2009

Ochsner Medical Center selected to participate as an FDA investigative site in the PARTNER clinical trial

On Tuesday, August 11, 2009, an 82-year old New Orleans resident with severe aortic stenosis successfully had a heart valve replaced at Ochsner Medical Center using the same technique as angioplasty, a far cry from the traditional open heart procedure. Patients who are considered high-risk or non-operable for conventional open heart valve surgery now have a potential new research option available regionally only through The John Ochsner Heart & Vascular Institute.

28 Aug 2009

Mount Sinai Medical Center physicians pioneer a non-surgical procedure for treating LAA

Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center were the first in the country to perform a non-surgical procedure using sutures to tie off a left atrial appendage (LAA), which is the source of blood clots leading to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is the most common sustained heart-rhythm disorder in the United States.

24 Aug 2009

Scientists grow new blood vessels to combat heart disease

Although open-heart surgery is a frequent treatment for heart disease, it remains extremely dangerous. Now groundbreaking research from Dr. Britta Hardy of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine has shown the potential for an injected protein to regrow blood vessels in the human heart ― eliminating the need for risky surgery altogether.

13 Aug 2009

For America's aged, surgery at any price?

When doctors decide whether or not to go ahead with an expensive surgery, "age is no longer the deciding factor, even for invasive treatment such as open-heart surgery," The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

7 Jul 2009

Boy born with half a heart survives and thrives

Rhonda Ellison was six months pregnant when she and her husband, James Gaines, got the kind of news all parents dread going into an ultrasound: something was wrong with their baby. They needed to go to the Children's Heart Center at Golisano Children's Hospital.

27 May 2009