Heart Disease News and Research

Latest Heart Disease News and Research

SynCardia Systems and AorTech International sign technology license agreement

On Sept. 22, SynCardia Systems, Inc. (www.syncardia.com), manufacturer of the SynCardia temporary CardioWest™ Total Artificial Heart, announced an exclusive technology licensing agreement with AorTech International plc (AIM: AOR).

23 Sep 2009

Norman Noble to use Raydiance Corporation's Smart Light ultrafast platform

Raydiance Corporation, developer of the world’s first commercial-grade ultrafast laser, announced today that its Smart LightTM ultrafast platform will provide the core technology for an advanced laser machining process, Noble UltraLightTM, to be launched by leading contract manufacturer Norman Noble, Inc. The Noble UltraLightTM process will enable highly precise, athermal machining of bio-absorbable materials, shape memory metals and other exotic materials for the medical device industry.

23 Sep 2009

Pregnancy can cause metabolic syndrome

Childbearing is associated directly with future development of the metabolic syndrome - abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, insulin resistance and other cardiovascular disease risk factors - and for women who have had gestational diabetes, the risk is more than twice greater, according to a study co-authored by University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

23 Sep 2009

St. Jude Medical's cardiovascular healthcare portfolio to be presented at TCT meeting

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) today announced it will display products and technologies from the company’s portfolio of solutions for cardiovascular healthcare professionals at the 21st annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting in San Francisco. The featured products reflect the company’s continued commitment to developing comprehensive, high-performance solutions which advance the practice of interventional cardiology by improving efficiencies and giving physicians more control.

23 Sep 2009

Genous Bio-engineered R stent for STEMI implantation exhibits safety

OrbusNeich announced today that interim data from a prospective registry showed good safety in a broad population of patients that underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and implantation of the company's Genous Bio-engineered R stent for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

23 Sep 2009

Breakthrough in the successful treatment of AMI

Medical device pioneer Stentys announced today the results on 20 patients participating in the Company’s ‘APPOSITION I’ clinical study—the world’s first to treat patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) via a self-expanding stent. These data were disclosed today by the study’s principal investigator, Christian Spaulding, M.D., Ph.D., to an audience of cardiologists during a Stentys-hosted satellite meeting at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (“TCT”) 2009 annual scientific meeting.

23 Sep 2009

Exercise counseling and fitness center training effective for type 2 diabetic patients

Physical therapist-directed exercise counseling combined with fitness center-based exercise training can improve muscular strength and exercise capacity in people with type 2 diabetes, with outcomes similar to those of supervised exercise, according to a randomized clinical trial published in the September issue of Physical Therapy, the scientific journal of the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).

23 Sep 2009

Results of IES presented at ECCO

Pfizer Inc today announced new, longer-term data from the Intergroup Exemestane Study (IES) showing that women who switched to AROMASIN® (exemestane tablets) after taking tamoxifen for two to three years experienced a significant reduction (18%) in the risk of disease-free survival (DFS) events. In addition, IES showed that AROMASIN prolonged overall survival (OS) in the ER+/unknown population with a 14% reduction in the risk of dying. These results demonstrate that the benefits of treatment are maintained in long term follow-up. These results were presented at the joint ECCO 15/ESMO 34 meeting in Berlin, Germany.

23 Sep 2009

Celera and Medco collaborate in KIF6 gene variant testing

Celera Corporation (NASDAQ:CRA) and Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MHS), today announced that they have entered into a research collaboration to evaluate whether testing for a gene variant called KIF6 increases patient adherence with statin therapy. Current studies have suggested that only about 50 to 60 percent of the patients who receive a prescription for a lipid-lowering drug are taking the medication after six months.

23 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

Results of OASIS clinical trial reported by Cardiovascular Systems

Two-year follow-up of patients in the first-ever prospective, multi-center clinical trial evaluating a plaque removal product show promising results after treatment with the Diamondback 360® PAD System, a minimally invasive catheter system that removes hardened plaque to restore blood flow in arteries.

23 Sep 2009

Women have higher incidence of stroke and mortality than men

Even though the incidence of atrial fibrillation is higher in men than women, a review of past studies and medical literature completed by cardiac experts at Rush University Medical Center shows that women are more likely than men to experience symptomatic attacks, a higher frequency of recurrences, and significantly higher heart rates during atrial fibrillation, which increases the risk of stroke.

23 Sep 2009

Heart surgery can be scheduled anytime: Study

The October issue of the journal Anesthesiology contains a study reviewing potential adverse effects associated with the timing of a patient's heart surgery; but based on this study, there is no bad time of the day or week or year to have elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

23 Sep 2009

Transoma Medical commences enrollment in its COMPLIANCE atrial fibrillation clinical trial

Transoma Medical, Inc., manufacturer of Sleuth AT™, the only wireless, automated implantable cardiac monitoring system with programmable and frequent electrocardiogram (ECG) sampling, announced today the first enrollment and implant in the COMPLIANCE trial, a long-term study to compare external event recorders with implantable monitors in patients who have been prescribed catheter ablation therapy for atrial fibrillation (AF) at risk of post-procedure AF recurrence.

23 Sep 2009

CIGNA announces initial results of its multi-year strategy to improve customer's experience

CIGNA (NYSE:CI) today announced the initial results of its multi-year strategy that places an entirely new focus on improving customers’ experience. The effort has led to an improvement in customer understanding of their benefits in excess of 100 percent, a 50 percent reduction in the number of printed materials customers receive, and the use of simpler language that doesn’t rely on insurance jargon. It also led CIGNA to become the first in its industry to offer 24 hour-a-day, seven day-a-week customer service.

23 Sep 2009

Vicor's PD2i heart-rate complexity metric to be tested on trauma patients in U.S. Army's C3E program

David H. Fater, CEO of Vicor Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: VCRT), today announced that Colonel Leopoldo Cancio of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) identified its PD2i as a heart rate complexity metric that will be tested on trauma patients under the new Critical Combat Care Engineering (C3E) program.

23 Sep 2009

Abbott, Coherex Medical sign multi-year distribution agreement

Salt Lake City-based Coherex Medical, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a multi-year distribution agreement with global health care company Abbott for the Coherex FlatStent™ EF PFO Closure System.

23 Sep 2009

New heart surgery method raises questions for reformers

A new method for performing cardiac catheterizations may be more comfortable, shows a lower chance of complications such as severe bleeding, and allows patients to be discharged more quickly, potentially saving money, the Washington Post reports.

23 Sep 2009

Abiomed announces new data from its USpella IRB registry of Impella 2.5 patients

Abiomed Inc. (NASDAQ: ABMD), a leading provider of breakthrough heart support technologies, today announced new clinical data from USpella, the first U.S. multicenter registry of Impella 2.5 patients evaluating the safety and feasibility of left ventricular support with the Impella 2.5 during high-risk percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

23 Sep 2009

HealthRock to promote health education

The $1 trillion cost and massive government role envisioned by the Obama Administration’s health care reform plan (The Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009) continue to create controversy in Congress and throughout the nation.

23 Sep 2009