Volcano Corporation (NASDAQ: VOLC), a leading company focused on improving patient and economic outcomes on a global basis by developing and delivering innovative minimally invasive coronary and peripheral visualization, physiology diagnostics and therapies, today announced that more than 1,000 systems have been activated with its instant wave-Free Ratio™, or iFR® Modality software, allowing physicians and patients around the globe to benefit from the simplified workflow, and reduced need for hyperemic agents.

It doesn’t take a mathematician to see that the cost structure for echocardiograms in the U.S. is wacky. The New York Times illustrates that price variability with an anecdote of one retired math professor whose bills for two echo exams differed by $4,100. 

Medtronic  today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval and commercial launch of two additional Attain Performa left ventricular (LV) quadripolar leads, which can be paired with the Medtronic Viva Quad XT and Viva Quad S cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-D) to treat patients with heart failure. The newest additions to the Attain Performa lead portfolio, the S-shape and Straight leads, are designed to accommodate patients' varying vessel sizes and curvatures to enhance successful lead placement. Quadripolar leads (leads with four electrodes) help physicians optimize cardiac resynchronization therapy, which uses an implantable device to improve the pumping efficiency of the heart.

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology collection continues to grow with the launch of JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology, which will feature original research and review articles regarding cardiac rhythm disorders. David J. Wilber, MD, FACC, will serve as Editor-in-Chief of the new journal, which will begin publishing in March 2015 on a bimonthly basis.

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and diabetes who underwent treatment with a drug-coated balloon fared better than counterparts who received standard care, according to a subanalysis of the IN.PACT SFA trial.

At five years, the Zilver PTX stent proved to be a durable treatment for peripheral artery disease with sustained benefit, results presented Nov. 4 at the 2014 Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) meeting showed.

Shockwaves appear to have early success in breaking up calcified lesions safely. In research presented Nov. 5 at the 2014 Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) meeting in Las Vegas, a lithotripsy-with-balloon technique used on peripheral artery lesions resulted in all patients achieving less than 50 percent stenosis. 

Covidien announced 12-month results of the DEFINITIVE AR study, the first randomized study designed to identify the clinical benefits of plaque removal using directional atherectomy followed by drug coated balloon. The results were presented by Professor Thomas Zeller of the Universitaets-Herzzentrum, Bad Krozingen, Germany at the Vascular Interventional Advances (VIVA) 2014 conference in Las Vegas, Nev.