The rumors, it seems, were true. Once the deal is finalized, Shockwave Medical will operate as a business unit within Johnson & Johnson MedTech.

"This was an unneeded burden, which was solely adding to the administrative hassles of medicine," said American Society of Nuclear Cardiology President Larry Phillips.

ACC.24 in Atlanta began Saturday, April 6, with a series of late-breaking clinical trials exploring brand new treatment strategies. 

The PREVENT study, presented at ACC.24, examined more than 1,600 patients with high-risk plaques treated with either preventive PCI or medical therapy alone. Outcomes were much better for the PCI group after two years, but the findings may lead to more questions than answers. 

The SMART trial included one-year data from TAVR patients randomized to receive either a self-expanding Evolut valve or a balloon-expandable Sapien 3 valve. All patients presented with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis and a small aortic annulus. A whopping 87% of participants were women. 

Interventional cardiologist Foluso Fakorede, MD, opened a practice in rural Mississippi, the epicenter of the PAD and CLI epidemic, to try and reverse the glaring health disparities in that region.

TAVR is noninferior to SAVR when treating low-risk patients, according to new data presented at ACC.24. In fact, it is associated with multiple benefits over surgery.

The anticoagulant was originally developed for patients with end-stage renal disease and atrial fibrillation. 

An independent heart team blinded to ICA results was able to deliver helpful guidance for CABG procedures for 99.1% of patients using just CCTA and FFR_CT alone. This approach is safe and feasible, researchers wrote, and the next step is to gather additional data. 

While most TAVR-related reinterventions occurred in the first year after treatment, most SAVR-related reinterventions occurred in years two through five. The team's full analysis is available in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions.