Stem cells in the embryo, previously thought to mature into only red blood or immune system cells, have another function, according to new research out of University College London. They can differentiate into endothelial cells, too, and could help in the growth of blood vessels in developing fetuses.

A Weston, Connecticut, cardiologist was sentenced to six months in prison and handed a $500,000 fine this week after illegally trading stock in a life sciences company, the Associated Press reports.

Biopharmaceutical company Amarin this week announced the topline results of its REDUCE-IT trial, a global study that achieved 25 percent cardiovascular risk reduction in a population of 8,179 statin-treated adults with the daily use of Vascepa, also known as icosapent ethyl.

Mitral valve prolapse (MVP)—a common condition that’s rarely serious—might boost heart patients’ risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD), researchers reported in the BMJ journal Heart this week.

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-guided stent implantation offers improved clinical outcomes for heart patients over a traditional angiography-guided approach, researchers from China reported at this week’s Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) meeting in San Diego, California.

The Eluvia drug-eluting vascular stent system has been approved by the FDA, device maker Boston Scientific announced Sept. 24—just two days after results from the IMPERIAL trial were presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics 2018 meeting.

A novel, polymer-free amphilius-eluting stent known as the “Cre8” was proven noninferior to the latest-generation permanent polymer drug-eluting stent in the first large-scale trial of its kind, according to research presented at the Cardiovascular Research Foundation’s 30th annual TCT conference in San Diego.

SAN DIEGO — An endovascular ultrasound-based renal denervation (RDN) approach led to greater reductions in blood pressure than radiofrequency ablation in patients with resistant hypertension, according to the first randomized trial to compare the techniques.

A report published by charity organization Cancer Research U.K. suggests obesity is on track to eclipse smoking as the greatest cause of preventable cancer in British women—something experts say could happen by 2043, the Guardian has reported.

OAC-ALONE, the first randomized trial to test the efficacy of oral anticoagulation (OAC) alone against combined OAC and a single antiplatelet agent (APT) in patients with atrial fibrillation and stable coronary artery disease, was unable to establish noninferiority of OACs to dual therapy, according to data presented at the 30th annual TCT conference in San Diego.