The RAPID neuroimaging platform can now be used in the U.S. to select stroke patients who are likely to benefit from endovascular thrombectomy. It is the first imaging platform to be cleared by the FDA as a patient selection tool for this clot removal procedure, according to iSchemaView, which developed the technology.
The IN.PACT Admiral drug-coated balloon. (Photo courtesy of Medtronic)
Executives from Medtronic and Boston Scientific stood behind their companies’ paclitaxel-coated medical devices after a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in December linked balloons and stents covered with the material to a significantly increased risk of death at two and five years of follow-up.
The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine has partnered with veterinary cardiologist Masami Uechi, DVM, PhD, to launch the country’s first open heart surgery program for dogs later this year.
The FDA has approved the Amplatzer Piccolo Occluder as a minimally invasive treatment option for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in newborns weighing as little as two pounds. According to its manufacturer, Abbott, it is the first such device in the world to be approved for babies so small.
Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center appointed a new president and restructured other staff after an investigation from the Houston Chronicle and ProPublica found mistakes at the Houston-based hospital’s heart transplant center led to patient deaths.
Public health insurance programs are covering an increasing number of heart transplant surgeries in the U.S., recent research suggests, meaning the outcomes of such procedures could hinge on decisions made by the federal government.
Patients with atrial fibrillation can safely continue oral anticoagulation (OAC) while undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), suggests a retrospective study published Jan. 7 in the American Journal of Cardiology.
Tafamidis, Pfizer’s treatment for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), has been granted a priority review designation from the FDA, potentially speeding its path to approval.
Adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) report better health-related quality of life (HRQoL) when treated with surgical or catheter interventions rather than drug therapy or surveillance, according to research published Jan. 8 in the American Journal of Cardiology.
One in five patients who required emergency surgery to correct complications caused by diagnostic angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) died within 30 days, researchers reported in a single-center study from Germany.
