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News briefs from featured presentations at Cardiology 2012

Pediatric cardiology researchers and clinicians from almost 50 centers from across the U.S. and around the world are gathering at the Cardiology 2012 Conference sponsored by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia on Feb. 22-26 in Orlando, Fla.

27 Feb 2012

U-M Cardiovascular Center now offers Edwards aortic valve replacement

As the population ages, more Americans will be susceptible to aortic stenosis, but not all patients can tolerate surgery to treat it. Select U.S. hospitals are now performing minimally invasive procedures called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, to replace a patient's diseased aortic valve without heart bypass or open heart surgery.

From Medtronic 23 Feb 2012

Intraoperative monitoring of spinal cord may help prevent paralysis

The American Academy of Neurology is issuing an updated guideline that recommends monitoring the spinal cord during spinal surgery and certain chest surgeries to help prevent paralysis, or loss of muscle function, related to the surgeries.

21 Feb 2012

Screening events to find out risk for heart attack or stroke

If you could find out if you had an increased risk of heart attack or stroke, wouldn't you want to know? Even if you are fit and healthy, coronary artery disease (CAD) or peripheral artery disease (PAD) are conditions with little to no symptoms and can put you at an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

20 Feb 2012

Engineers discover electrical property in arteries

The heart's inner workings are mysterious, perhaps even more so with a new finding. Engineers at the University of Washington have discovered an electrical property in arteries not seen before in mammalian tissues.

31 Jan 2012

Enrollment complete in Medtronic's CoreValve U.S. Trial for severe aortic stenosis

Medtronic, Inc. today announced it has completed patient enrollment in the extreme risk study in its CoreValve U.S. Pivotal Trial. The company also received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for an extended investigation to continue enrolling extreme risk patients under a Continued Access Study protocol.

From Medtronic 25 Jan 2012

Vitamin D supplements can fight against age-related macular degeneration

Researchers funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have found that vitamin D reduces the effects of ageing in mouse eyes and improves the vision of older mice significantly. The researchers hope that this might mean that vitamin D supplements could provide a simple and effective way to combat age-related eye diseases, such as macular degeneration (AMD), in people.

17 Jan 2012

Medtronic announces CE mark and launch of Endurant II AAA Stent Graft System

Medtronic Inc. today announced the CE mark and international launch of the Endurant II AAA Stent Graft System, which meaningfully expands the options physicians outside the United States have to treat patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms through a minimally invasive technique called endovascular aortic repair.

From Medtronic 17 Jan 2012

Two emergency medicine physicians create weapon against lethal war injury

Two emergency medicine physicians with wartime experience have developed a weapon against one rapidly lethal war injury.

12 Jan 2012

First Total Artificial Heart implant performed at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia

Surgeons at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performed the first Total Artificial Heart implant in the New York City area to replace a patient's dying heart.

15 Dec 2011

New updated site shows how well UMHS provides care in clinical settings

Plenty of hospitals and medical providers claim they do a great job at caring for patients and protecting their safety during care. But very few actually publish the cold, hard numbers that could prove those claims. And even fewer do it like the University of Michigan Health System has: on a website open to anyone, with dozens of charts and graphs showing actual performance and comparisons to national averages and benchmarks.

7 Dec 2011

NYU Langone establishes new LVAD Program for patients with advanced heart failure

The Cardiac & Vascular Institute at NYU Langone Medical Center has established its new LVAD Program. This surgical intervention program offers eligible, advanced heart failure patients implantation of the latest, lifesaving tool - a left ventricular assist device.

2 Dec 2011

Study reveals classification scheme for treatment of blunt aortic injury

New research at the University of Washington's (UW) Harborview Medical Center in Seattle reveals a classification scheme for the treatment of blunt aortic injury.

1 Dec 2011

Asymmetric prototypes for mitral valve replacement

The heart's valves, which guarantee the unidirectional flow of blood from one chamber to another, are asymmetrical. For example, the two flaps of the heart's mitral valve - which regulates blood flow between the left atrium and the left ventricle - vary in size by up to 70 percent.

23 Nov 2011

Pediatricians warn about hazards of button batteries

With the increasing production of electronic products in the consumer market, more button batteries are found in the home setting. From remote controls and watches to musical greeting cards and toys, these small, shiny objects are the perfect size for a curious child to swallow or even push into their nasal cavity or ear canal. It is important for parents to be aware of the dangers that button batteries pose to young children and the damage that these batteries can cause.

23 Nov 2011

FDA allows marketing of Aptus EndoStapling System to treat AAA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first system that can repair a failed or problematic aortic endograft, a fabric tube used to repair a dangerously large aortic aneurysm, a bulge in the large blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart.

22 Nov 2011

FDA clears Aptus EndoStapling System to treat AAA

Aptus Endosystems, Inc., a medical device company developing advanced technology for endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), announced today that it received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Aptus EndoStapling System, which will now be known as the HeliFX™ Aortic Securement System.

21 Nov 2011

GORE TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis receives FDA approval for treatment of TAAs

W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. (Gore) announced that it has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the Conformable GORE TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis as a minimally invasive treatment for patients suffering from thoracic aortic aneurysms.

16 Nov 2011

Children can have successful surgical repairs for hollow or sunken chest

Hollow or sunken chest, the most common congenital deformity of the chest wall affecting one in 300 to one in 400 children, is rarely life-threatening and virtually all children can have successful surgical repairs.

11 Nov 2011

Classical DCs associated with protection against atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis, commonly referred to as "hardening of the arteries," is a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke. The cause of atherosclerosis is not well understood but, for some time, chronic inflammatory immune responses have been implicated in driving disease pathology. Now, a new study, published online on November 10th by Cell Press from the journal Immunity, identifies a type of immune cell that is not associated with promoting disease, but with protection against atherosclerosis.

11 Nov 2011