Defibrillator News and Research

Latest Defibrillator News and Research

Forest acquires worldwide rights to novel antiarrhythmic agent azimilide

Forest Laboratories, Inc. today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Forest Laboratories Holdings Limited and Blue Ash Therapeutics, LLC have entered into an asset purchase agreement, pursuant to which Forest has acquired worldwide rights to azimilide, a novel antiarrhythmic agent originally developed by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals.

20 Apr 2011

Japanese MHLW approves Spectranetics LLD lead locking device

Spectranetics Corporation today announced that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare granted approval for the LLD lead locking device, which is used for the removal of pacemaker and defibrillator cardiac leads.

6 Apr 2011

ICD therapy can improve ischemic cardiomyopathy survival rates

Most patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and dilated cardiomyopathy who have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator now live more than seven years and those ICD patients with hereditary heart disease can live for decades, based on a scientific paper that will be presented at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, April 1-3.

6 Apr 2011

Heart patients share perspectives on deactivation, donation and reuse of ICD devices

Each year, more than 100,000 patients in the U.S. undergo implantation of a new implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) for heart rhythm abnormalities. This number constitutes a 20-fold increase over the last 15 years. Current medical guidelines advocate discussion of end of life care of these medical devices, including deactivation, but many patients may not understand their options.

6 Apr 2011

Adherence to guideline-related therapies can reduce heart failure patients' mortality rate

A UCLA-led study has found that adherence to national guideline-recommended therapies for heart failure in an outpatient practice setting significantly lowered the mortality rate of heart failure patients.

5 Apr 2011

FDA approves Medtronic's Protecta implantable defibrillators

Medtronic, Inc. today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the Protecta portfolio of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and cardiac resynchronization therapy-defibrillators.

29 Mar 2011

FDA approves Medtronic's Consulta and Syncra pacemaker systems

Medtronic, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has approved its Consulta and Syncra cardiac resynchronization therapy-pacemaker systems.

25 Mar 2011

NSW selects ZOLL AED Plus devices for Rural Fire Service stations

ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of medical devices and related software solutions, announced today that it has received an award from the Government of NSW Australia to provide 5450 AED Plus devices for installation on all Rural Fire Service stations deployed throughout the State of New South Wales.

10 Mar 2011

State roundup: Mass. effort to manage care for chronically ill; promoting organ donations

For a glimpse of the future of Massachusetts health care as Gov. Deval Patrick envisions it, consider Phyllis Minsky. At 82, Phyllis is complex. Medically, that is. ... Older patients with multiple chronic diseases are the biggest consumers of health care; some 15 percent of Medicare patients make up over 75 percent of health care spending.

8 Mar 2011

CRT-D therapy benefits heart failure patients with left bundle branch block

Mild heart failure patients with a particular condition that results in disorganized electrical activity throughout the heart benefit substantially from cardiac resynchronization therapy with defibrillator (CRT-D), according to a study published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.

2 Mar 2011

Enrollment commences in NORDIC implantable cardioverter defibrillator clinical trial

BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG announced today the start of the NORDIC ICD clinical trial. The first implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) patients were enrolled by its coordinating clinical investigator, Prof. Dr. Dietmar Bänsch at the University Hospital of Rostock and the investigator Dr. Stefan Kuster at the DRK Hospital of Mölln/Ratzeburg.

25 Feb 2011

Scottsdale Healthcare implants MRI-safe pacemaker

Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center is the first hospital in the southwestern United States to implant an MRI-safe pacemaker, a major technological breakthrough for patients who need MRI diagnostic scans, which can damage older style pacemakers or cause serious health complications.

18 Feb 2011

Spectranetics fourth quarter revenues decrease 1% to $29.3 million

Spectranetics Corporation today reported financial results for the quarter and full year ended December 31, 2010.

17 Feb 2011

Rapid approvals for medical devices by FDA leads to increased recalls: Study

According to a latest study many medical devices recalled in recent years by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because they posed a high risk to patients were not rigorously studied before being approved for patient use. The study, appearing on the web site of The Archives of Internal Medicine, said that most medical devices that were the subject of high-risk recalls from 2005 to 2009 had been cleared through a regulatory pathway with little testing. This included external heart defibrillators, hospital infusion pumps and mechanical ventilators.

14 Feb 2011

Sorin's 2010 consolidated revenues increase 4.9% to € 745.8 million

The Board of Directors of Sorin S.p.A. meeting today under the chairmanship of Rosario Bifulco reviewed the fourth quarter 2010 and the preliminary 2010 consolidated results.

11 Feb 2011

Cardiac Science receives contract to deploy Powerheart AEDs at US Postal Inspection Service

Cardiac Science Corporation, a global leader in automated external defibrillator and diagnostic cardiac monitoring devices, has been awarded a contract to deploy Powerheart AEDs at U.S. Postal Inspection Service sites across the nation.

10 Feb 2011

FDA approves Medtronic's new Revo MRI pacemaker

Medtronic, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its Revo MRI SureScan pacing system, the first and only pacemaker in the U.S. specifically designed for use in an Magnetic Resonance Imaging environment and approved as MR-Conditional. Shipments of Revo MRI will begin immediately.

8 Feb 2011

Chances of surviving cardiac arrests high in large public venues having AEDs

A study of more than 14,000 men and women whose hearts stopped suddenly suggests that the chances of survival are very high if such cardiac arrests are witnessed in large public venues, including airports, sports arenas or malls. The reasons, researchers say, are that almost four out of five such cases appear to be due to a survivable type of heart rhythm disruption and that big places with lots of people are more likely to have an automated external defibrillator, or AED device, handy, along with those who can apply it as well as CPR.

3 Feb 2011

Sprint Fidelis ICD leads fail more often in younger patients with hereditary heart disease

The recalled Sprint Fidelis implantable cardioverter-defibrillator leads failed more often in younger patients, women, and individuals with hereditary heart disease, according to a multicenter study published online Jan. 17 in Circulation. The researchers found that lead failure was not associated with death or serious injuries.

1 Feb 2011

NIH study helps explain survival rate discrepancy between cardiac arrest in public and home

Cardiac arrests that can be treated by electric stimulation, also known as shockable arrests, were found at a higher frequency in public settings than in the home, according to a National Institutes of Health-funded study appearing in the Jan. 27 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

27 Jan 2011