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GEH to create a supply of molybdenum-99 for use in nuclear medicine diagnostic procedures

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) announced today it has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to help develop a U.S. supply of a radioisotope used in more than 20 million diagnostic medical procedures in the United States each year.

27 Jan 2010

Mayo Clinic teams up with PCH to provide surgical treatment for patients with PE

Mayo Clinic is teaming up with Phoenix Children's Hospital (PCH) and Pediatric Surgeons of Phoenix to provide comprehensive surgical treatment to both children and adults with pectus deformities.

27 Jan 2010

MAQUET Cardiovascular initiates study evaluating EVH in CABG compared to open vein harvesting

MAQUET Cardiovascular LLC, a leading provider of cardiovascular technologies, today announced the initiation of the OPTION (Optimal Improvement of Vein Graft Patency Long Term by the Implementation Of Novel Endoscopic Harvesting Techniques) study. This clinical trial is designed to evaluate the equivalence of Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting (EVH) in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery compared with historical data for open vein harvesting. David Moore, M.D., of THE HEART HOSPITAL Baylor Plano is the principal investigator for the OPTION trial.

27 Jan 2010

Discovery challenges understanding of blood cell development

University of Utah researchers led an international team of scientists that is the first to report on the previously undescribed ability of platelets to reproduce themselves in the circulation. Their revolutionary findings were published online Jan. 19, 2010, in the journal Blood.

27 Jan 2010

Antioxidants can also harm

Antioxidants increasingly have been praised for their benefits against disease and aging, but recent studies at Kansas State University show that they also can cause harm.

27 Jan 2010

Counterfeit version of Alli sold over the Internet: FDA warns

FDA is alerting consumers to an unsafe, counterfeit version of the weight-loss drug Alli sold over the Internet.

27 Jan 2010

Cinergy Health creates five steps to reduce childhood obesity

Cinergy Health, a nationwide health insurance agency providing guaranteed issue and short term major medical insurance programs, responds to the alarming rise in childhood obesity. One in three children in America is overweight or obese and one out of every five teenagers has a cholesterol level that increases the risk of heart disease.

27 Jan 2010

Update on Cardium Therapeutics' plans for commercial development of Generx

Cardium Therapeutics reported today that its Cardium Biologics division provided an update on plans for the continuing commercial development of Generx™ (alferminogene tadenovec, Ad5FGF-4), a DNA-based angiogenic therapy product candidate for patients with coronary artery disease.

27 Jan 2010

Resveratrol supplements may offer potential benefits for cancer patients

For years, consumers and natural health advocates have been convinced of the benefits of resveratrol, the healthy by-product of red-wine grapes, but recently, the National Cancer Institute decided it was time to investigate further.

27 Jan 2010

Eribis Pharmaceuticals' cardiovascular therapy program receives new investment from Karolinska Development

Eribis Pharmaceuticals AB - part of the Karolinska Development portfolio - announced today that it has received follow-on financial investment enabling the company to continue its clinical development program. Based on cardio-protective effects, Eribis' candidate drug has the potential to become an important new therapy for treating acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and reperfusion injury (damage to tissue caused when blood supply returns after a period of ischemia), as well as for surgical preconditioning. The new round of investment from Karolinska Development AB will allow Eribis to strengthen the preclinical material.

27 Jan 2010

Ablation therapy better than drug therapy for heart rhythm disorder

Treating a common heart rhythm disorder by burning heart tissue with a catheter works dramatically better than drug treatments, according to a landmark study published in the Jan. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

27 Jan 2010

Selective use of DHCA during surgery for CHD in infancy does not impair neurological outcomes

Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most common birth defects in humans, affecting 8 per 1000 live births with one third of affected children requiring intervention in early infancy. Increasing numbers of survivors combined with developmental expectations for independence, behavioral self-regulation and academic achievement have led to a growing identification of neurobehavioral symptoms in some survivors. A study now suggests that a cooling technique often used in heart operations does not impair neurological outcomes.

27 Jan 2010

UF researchers work out to find new treatments for Pompe disease

As scientists work to find new treatments for Pompe disease - the devastating genetic "villain" that drives the efforts of the main characters in the new film "Extraordinary Measures" - University of Florida researchers are hopeful that gene therapy will help patients in the late stages of the disease breathe on their own.

27 Jan 2010

Medtronic' Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve receives FDA approval under HDE

In a significant development for congenital heart disease patients, Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT), announced today that its Melody® Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval under a Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE).

27 Jan 2010

Obese children face increased risk of stroke and heart disease

By as early as 7 years of age, being obese may raise a child's risk of future heart disease and stroke, even in the absence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

27 Jan 2010

Thoratec expands MCS portfolio with innovative catheter pump technology

Thoratec Corporation, a world leader in device-based mechanical circulatory support (MCS) therapies to save, support and restore failing hearts, said today that it has acquired an innovative catheter pump technology that it plans to use in the development of a minimally invasive, acute cardiac axial flow pump that can be delivered percutaneously in the cardiac catheterization lab and operating room.

27 Jan 2010

Promising results in mice could prevent fatal iron buildup in humans

A new study shows that a protein found in blood alleviates anemia, a condition in which the body's tissues don't get enough oxygen from the blood. In this animal study, injections of the protein, known as transferrin, also protected against potentially fatal iron overload in mice with thalassemia, a type of inherited anemia that affects millions of people worldwide.

27 Jan 2010

World Heart Corp. completes $7.3 mn private placement to purchase common stock

World Heart Corporation, a developer of mechanical circulatory systems, announced today that it has completed its previously announced private placement of common stock and warrants to purchase common stock. Gross proceeds from the offering were approximately $7.3 million. Proceeds from the private placement are expected to be used for general corporate and working capital purposes.

27 Jan 2010

FDA approves first heart valve conduit that can delay need for open-heart surgery

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the Medtronic Melody Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve and Ensemble Delivery System, the first heart valve to be implanted through a catheter, or tube, in a leg vein and guided up to the heart. This new approach to the treatment of adults and children with previously implanted, poorly functioning pulmonary valve conduits can delay the need for open-heart surgery.

27 Jan 2010

First commercial implants of ATS Medical's ATS 3f Enable Aortic Bioprosthesis performed

ATS Medical, Inc., manufacturer and marketer of state-of-the-art cardiac surgery products and services today announced the first commercial implants of the ATS 3f Enable® Aortic Bioprosthesis were recently performed at the University of Berne Hospital, Berne, Switzerland by Lars Englberger, MD, Mario Stalder, MD, and Professor Thierry Carrel. The procedures were completed using a sutureless technique and the patients are recovering with no complications.

25 Jan 2010