Performing additional diagnostic testingC-reactive protein and coronary calcium scoring, among othersdoes not produce better findings, according to an expert consensus document released at the annual American Heart Association (AHA) meeting Nov. 15. Assessing cholesterol levels, blood pressure, age, sex, family history, smoking and incidence of diabetes is still the best risk assessment tool to predict heart disease.

AirStrip Technologies and Physio-Control have partnered to integrate remote patient monitoring applications (AirStrip) with patient data transmission networks (Physio-Control) to deliver mobile solutions that help mobilize critical information.

Toshiba America Medical Systems is introducing 32 element cardiac and head coils for its Vantage Titan MR line.

Orlando Heart Center, a 23-physician four-office practice close to Orlando, Fla., prepared for the 2010 reimbursement cuts by investing in a PET scanner. The center since has shifted more SPECT patients to PET, resulting in multiple benefits for the practice and patients.

The solid evidence points to MRI as the first-line test for acute stroke assessment. Limited scanner availability, however, has prompted many to rely on CT, despite the lack of rigorous clinical studies to support its use.

Adding a self-management counseling regimen to educational interventions for heart failure (HF) patients did not reduce death or HF hospitalizations, according to a study published in the Sept. 22/29 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The FDA has extended the time to complete its review of the new drug application for ticagrelor (Brilinta, AstraZeneca) from Sept. 16 to Dec. 16.

Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) electrograms provide a practical approach to identifying ventricular tachycardias (VTs), and can differentiate clinical VTs from inducible VTs of uncertain clinical relevance in patients referred for catheter ablation, based on a study published Sept. 14 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.